Patsy

'One of the most stunning novels I've ever read' Diva Whether the novels characters are bonding or breaking, their interactions are described with grace and nuance With renewed hostility to newcomers in the US and UK, the publication of Patsy feels perfectly timed. Observer Engrossing Dennis-Benn has crafted a passionate, honest portrayal of freedom and motherhood. Elle Enjoyable and constantly surprising... Alive to hardship yet never downbeat, this big, bustling odyssey offers a generous portrait of its mixed up cast. * Metro * Sumptuous... If "queer" can refer not just to sexuality, but also to the act of turning something upside down, then Nicole Dennis-Benn, in her epic and gorgeous new novel, queers the immigrant saga. Patsy, her titular character, is complicated by her desires for female love, for freedom from motherhood, for a second start in a new country and Dennis-Benn renders the pains Patsy goes through to achieve those wants in dazzling technicolor. * Oprah Magazine * Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn is even better than her debut Here Comes the Sun... It's a heartbreaker but a heart mender, too... A satisfying read with no easy answers, but so much compassion. * Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage, winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction * Patsy is a thoroughly absorbing saga of two female protagonists unstoppable determination to thrive, no matter what obstacles are placed in their way. * Guardian * Stunning... Though set in the past, the story and its reflections on borders and boundaries carry an urgent timeliness... There have been few narrative epics that effectively tally the emotional, logistical, physical, psychological and financial trials of the black female immigrant and mother or, likewise, the impact on the family of a black woman who dares transform herself. Dennis-Benn maps the internal terrain of black women yearning to be free without romanticizing or ignoring their flaws... Patsy fills a literary void with compassion, complexity and tenderness. * Time * A searing new take on immigration and what it means to be a mother. Passionate and urgent, Patsy explores what happens when a woman chooses herself over all else. * Harper's Bazaar * 'A thoughtful and enjoyable portrait of a woman seeking freedom, at all costs.' * Independent, 'Best LGBTQ+ Books for Pride Month' * In her new novel, Patsy, the writer tells an immigration story that defies conventions of motherhood and sexuality. * New York Times * Brilliant...a winning pick to help you escape reality... Dennis-Benn, a Jamaican immigrant herself, writes with keen awareness of what others experience living undocumented in America and the compromises women make to prioritise themselves. * Elle, USA * Patsy is a book that'll make you reassess your own belief systems... It's brave and excellent reading. * Stylist * A novel that continually and subtly defies predictability as it tells a vital and remarkable life story Again and again, Patsy surprises and illuminates. * New York Times Books Review * 'Dennis-Benn has the uncanny ability to create characters that feel deeply, painfully real... A compulsively readable book that deftly grapples with maternal ambivalence.' * BuzzFeed, Best Books of 2019 * A moving examination of identity, sexuality, motherhood and immigrationthe sort of book you cant stop thinking about long after turning the last page. * i, Best Summer Beach Reads * This novel is a layered portrait of motherhood, immigration and the sacrifices we make in the name of love. * Oprah Winfrey's Summer 2019 Reading List * Nicole Dennis-Benn is an exquisite writer who paints scenes with words so vivid you might as well be walking through it as a character, not a reader. * Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of <

Nicole Dennis-Benn has received fellowships from Hedgebrook, MacDowell, Lambda and the Sewanee Writers Conference. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, she lives with her wife in Brooklyn, New York, where she teaches writing. In 2018, she was named as an NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Fiction, awarded by the New York Foundation for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. Here Comes the Sun is her first novel. It won the Lambda Literary Award, and was a finalist for the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award and the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. www.nicoledennisbenn.com