These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser.
Jonathan Escoffery’s stories flourish in the middle of a Venn diagram, in a realm somewhere between autobiography and true-to-life fiction. The child of Jamaican immigrants, he writes about Trelawney, the younger son of Topper and Sanya, who fled Kingston for Miami in the 1970s, revealing the tensions involved in assimilation and cultural preservation. Told through a mix of first- and second-person narration, Escoffery also seamlessly switches from standard English to Jamaican patois for a story from the perspective of Trewlaney’s father—just one of many moving pieces in his debut collection, which was longlisted for a National Book Award. —Laura Zornosa
Buy Now: If I Survive You on Bookshop | Amazon
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Donald Trump Is TIME's 2024 Person of the Year
- Why We Chose Trump as Person of the Year
- Is Intermittent Fasting Good or Bad for You?
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- The 20 Best Christmas TV Episodes
- Column: If Optimism Feels Ridiculous Now, Try Hope
- The Future of Climate Action Is Trade Policy
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
