Kei Miller – författare

''One woman''s tragic tale, beautifully told'' Independent on Sunday

FROM KEI MILLER, WINNER OF THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST COLLECTION

Once upon a time in Jamaica a young woman went somewhere that no one had visited for years.

It may have been nestled in a valley between the Stone Hill mountains of St Catherine, four rocking chairs on a veranda surveying a garden full of bougainvillea and vegetables. Or perhaps it was merely a pastel-coloured house on an ordinary street in Spanish Town.

One thing everyone agrees on: this is the place that Adamine Bustamante was born.

When Adamine grows up she discovers she has the gift of ''warning'': the power to both protect and terrify. But no one tells her that in England her prophecies of hurricanes and earthquakes will meet with a different kind of fear.

Now Adamine wants to tell her story.

But she must wrestle for the truth with ''Mr Writer Man'', for he is taking her words and twisting them...

A ROLLERCOASTER OF A NOVEL ABOUT A YOUNG JAMAICAN WOMAN WITH A GIFT OF PROPHECY EMBARKING ON AN EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEYPraise for Kei Miller, winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize, the Green Carnation Prize and the Historical Writers Award:

''Miller''s storytelling is superb'' Sunday Times

''Language as clear as spring water'' Observer

''Richly nuanced and empathetic'' Guardian

''Truly panoramic'' Sunday Telegraph

From the WINNER OF THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST COLLECTION 2014, a ''humorous, bittersweet fiction, combin[ing] the fantastical realism of Marquez with the domestic comedy of Andrea Levy'' INDEPENDENTIt all begins with the theft of Tessa Walcott''s panties...After the hurricane of 1974, Jamaica is devastated. Imelda Richardson is sent to England, without a place to stay or a plan of what to do. Luckily sheis taken in by Purletta Johnson, a member of the ex-pat bourgeoisie who has decided to become more Jamaican than any Jamaican: sucking her teeth, sporting a gold tooth, and growing ganja on her balcony. But when her mother dies Imelda returns to Jamaica. When Tessa Walcott''s panties are stolen, she and Imelda set up a Neighbourhood Watch. But they haven''t counted on Pastor Braithwaite who denounces them in Church. The church-goers turn on Imelda, and when the river suddenly floods her home it is seen as a punishment from God. A Pentecostal fervour sweeps through the village of Watersgate, fuelled by Evangelist Millie. In her last great crusade, Miss Millie organises ''fire to burn their sins away'', equipping the villagers with kerosene as they set about burning everything. Now they are marching on the gay man''s house and only Imelda can save him.

WINNER OF THE OCM BOCAS PRIZE FOR CARIBBEAN LITERATURESHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE, THE GREEN CARNATION PRIZE, and the HISTORICAL WRITERS AWARD''This is my ultimate beach read. It has an explosive beginning that draws in a reader in the best way, excellent storytelling, incredible prose. It will keep you absorbed until the sun goes down'' Reni Eddo-Lodge, author of Why I''m No Longer Talking to White People About Race

One April day in Augustown, Jamaica. Ma Taffy, old and blind, sits in her usual spot on the veranda. No matter how the world tilts around her, come hurricane or riot, she knows everything that goes on in this small community. Which is why, when her six-year-old nephew returns home from school with his dreadlocks shorn, she realises that trouble won''t be far behind.

And so she tells him the story of Alexander Bedward, the flying preacherman. She remembers what happened to the Rastaman and his helper, Bongo Moody; she thinks of Soft-Paw, the leader of the Angola gang, and what lies beneath her house. For trouble is brewing once more among the ramshackle lanes of Augustown, and as Ma Taffy knows, each day contains much more than its own hours, or minutes, or seconds.

In fact, each day contains all of history . . .