Levy, Andrea. Fruit of the Lemon. Picador Press, 1999.
Reason: Jamaica won its independence in August. This year it was celebrated on August 6th. Read to celebrate the history.
Faith Jackson is a Londoner just trying to make her way. She has a decent job, an apartment full of roommates, and a loving family living close by. Born to Jamaican parents, Faith does not look like a pale-skinned Englishwoman, but this has never been a problem until Faith wants to improve her life. At the corners of this seemingly content life, she starts to notice subtle roadblocks; a prejudice towards her gender and skin color. Why does she have to jump through hoops to get the job for which she is perfect?
Fruit of the Lemon will make you think about unconscious bias. There is a scene when Faith’s nationality is assumed. Even though she was born and raised in England, when people saw her dark skin, they immediately assumed she was from “away.” When she answered she was from London everyone wanted a different answer. In the end a trip to Jamaica made her realize she was more than her skin color. She was a great-granddaughter, a granddaughter, a daughter, a cousin, a niece, and an aunt.
Author fact: Levy passed away on Valentine’s Day in 2019 after a long battle with cancer.
Book trivia: Fruit of the Lemon is Levy’s third book. I am also reading Small Island and Long Song for the Challenge.
Setlist: “Lemon Tree” (as an aside, the Merrymen do a great version of “Lemon Tree”), “Danny Boy”, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, “Hey Mister Tallyman”, The Sound of Music, Oliver, Shostakovich, Cilla Black, “Abide with Me”, “Away in a Manger”, Miles Davis, “Ave Maria”, “Jingle Bells”, and “God Save the Queen”.
Nancy said: Pearl said not to forget Andrea Levy.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Cavorting Through the Caribbean: Jamaica” (p 56).
~*LunaSea*~ 