Going Back Home

Joy inhaled deeply, breathing in the smells, the sights, and sounds. There was so much to absorb; the hibiscus hedges surrounding the white bungalows, their elegant canopies warding off the fiercest heat from the verandas. The big mango tree by the corner well laden with green fruits and the odd yellow one, half-hidden among the leaves… Esmine stood underneath the bus shelter shifting about restlessly, squinting against the glare of the sun. She put on her sunglasses, almost breaking them in her irritation. They slid down her sweaty nose. She grabbed them off and jammed them into the side of her bag. The constant dust was getting into her eyes. She dreaded the thought of the way her clothes must look. Her hair! Joy loves Jamaica. Like her father she can smell the richness of the earth and feel the power of her people’s history and traditions. To them, Jamaica is the only place that can be called home. Her sister Esmine, like her mother, is used to Britain. She and her mother hold passionately to the view that they have fought for their place in British society and cannot conceive of anywhere else as home. Set in England during the early 1980s, Going Back Home is a powerful story of love, rivalry, religious fundamentalism and belonging. It charts the British-born sisters and their close friends as they navigate the challenges of British society on their quest to realise their sense of belonging. Joy’s and Esmine’s family is very close knit but can they survive the pressures of divided loyalty?