Jamaica Road

A Novel

By: Lisa Smith

Narrated by: Sapphire Joy

A transformative love story about two best friends who fall for each other, fall apart, and try to find their way back together in their tight-knit British-Jamaican community.

South London, 1981: Daphne is the only Black girl in her class. All she wants is to keep her head down, preferably in a book. The easiest way to survive is to go unnoticed.

Daphne’s attempts at invisibility are upended when a boy named Connie Small arrives from Jamaica. Connie is the opposite of small in every way: lanky, outgoing, and unapologetically himself. Daphne tries to keep her distance, but Connie is magnetic, and they form an intense bond. As they navigate growing up in a volatile, rapidly changing city, their families become close, and their friendship begins to shift into something more complicated. When Connie reveals that he and his mother “nuh land”—meaning they’re in England illegally—Daphne realizes that she is dangerously entangled in Connie’s fragile home life. Soon, long-buried secrets in both families threaten to tear them apart permanently.

Spanning one tumultuous decade, from the industrial docklands of the Thames to the sandy beaches of Calabash Bay, Jamaica Road is a deftly plotted and emotionally expansive debut novel about race and class, the family you’re born with and the family you choose, and the limits of what true love can really conquer.

Really good read!

A good story with some of the ugly truths of the world. Racism and abuse. I should like if we all thought, “ We run tings, tings no run we!” We could stop this madness. I surely hope that spousal violence is taken seriously. I’m a 60 y.o. black man in the US and had not realized the racism in the UK was just as serious and real as here. It’s a shame there is so much hate in the world. Thank you for writing it.

Exceptional Narration!

This story was very interesting and informative, and the characters were incredibly well flushed out. Joy Saphire's narration was, well, a JOY! It was like listening to music. She did Jamaican and a variety of British dialects flawlessly! I can't recommend this book enough.

WOW WOW!!!!!

This book was soo good!! 10/10 the author the narrator the historical content! So well written I felt like I was transported to the time