If I Survive You

Trelawny moves with his family from Jamaica to Miami where the desperate need for people he meets to pigeonhole him (Are you Black? You don't look Jamaican. I thought you were Puerto Rican) seriously complicates his coming of age. His struggle to find his place in America is a blistering picture of the caste system that exists in the country and even within the minority community itself. From high school in Florida to college in the Midwest (where Trelawny is labeled as unequivocally Black) Escoffery presents a surgically precise view of what new immigrants face in coming to the U.S.

But the book isn't a political screed. The story of Trelawny and his family as they navigate the cultural obstacles of a new country is compelling and feels genuine. The characters are well drawn and sympathetic.

In this case audio is the way to go. This book is loaded with rich Jamaican dialect whose power is diluted in print. The version I listened to is read by a narrator of Jamaican background and it was wonderful to hear.

Jonathan Escoffery has succeeded in writing a series of short stories so connected that the entire work can be taken for a novel. Additionally, these memorable stories are both sad and funny, deal with a young person’s identity crisis (both racial and cultural), racism, homelessness, family discord, financial disaster, and Miami culture.

Most of the stories focus on Trelawney, the younger son of Jamaican immigrants, and the only person in his nuclear family to have been born in the US. At school, no one thinks he looks or sounds Jamaican, because he is not. Additionally, his complexion suggests Hispanic or Dominican, and it turns out that in this country, society has a need to pigeon hole people’s ethnicity, so at times, Trelawney has to announce himself as Black. The absurdity of colorism is very well portrayed.

Escoffery’s writing style is impressive, and I am personally in awe of how he portrayed Trelawney’s desperate poverty and homelessness without crushing the reader with overwhelming sadness. For instance, at one point, Trelawney’s job is certifying people for public housing, all the while being homeless himself. While having compassion for these people in need, Trelawney is also torn between being totally honest, and taking care of himself. Some of the people Trelawney deals with are very funny!

There were several characters in these stories, and I admired the way all the voices were distinctive. Trelawney’s narrative is particularly distinctive,, the way he puts you in his shoes, while his father’s is in a Jamaican dialect. His mother’s language suggests that she has assimilated more, while his brother Delano can switch back and forth. There is also his cousin Cukie, whose story is also riveting.

I recommend this wholeheartedly. Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus, Giroux for introducing me to Jonathan Escoffery.