Sweetness in the Skin

Pumkin Patterson dreams of a life beyond her Jamaican hometown. But what we dream of and where we belong aren’t always the same thing… PRE-ORDER this heartfelt and uplifting story for fans of The Girl With the Louding Voice and The Reading List ‘A delightful, at times humorous story set in Jamaica, amid heartbreak, hopefulness, and mirth.’ CHARMAINE WILKERSON, author of Black Cake‘A tender exploration of familial love, both the family you’re born to, and the one you find along the way.’ CHARLENE CARR, author of Hold My Girl****For Pumkin Patterson, family is complicated. There’s her mother Paulette, who only sees Pumkin as a nuisance. There’s her beloved Auntie Sophie, who has always talked of she and Pumkin travelling to new horizons. And there’s her grandmother, who has always favoured Sophie over Paulette. When Sophie moves to France for work, she promises to send for her niece in one year’s time. All Pumkin has to do is pass her French entrance exam. But when Pumkin’s mother finds out, she’s determined that her sister won’t get her own way this time.Now forced to raise the money for her exam in secret, Pumkin turns to her loyal friends to help her secure her way out . . . while evading her mother’s suspicions. But while Pumkin dreams of her escape, could happiness be closer to home than she thinks? READERS ARE LOVING SWEETNESS IN THE SKIN'This. Was. Amazing! I was hooked from the very first page.' Reader review 'Absolutely charming. I read it on one sitting, I just couldn’t peel myself away from the story of Pumpkin!' Reader review'I enjoyed reading it and was rooting for Pumkin to find her way on her journey to herself' Reader review'Funny and heartwarming. Highly recommend adding to your wish list of books to read next year.' Reader review

Delightful. This tender, humorous, coming-of-age tale celebrates the flavours and language of Jamaica, Vibrant, affecting and joyfully uplifting. I felt completely transported, and was cheering Pumkin along every step of the way!, Sweetness in the Skin is a tender exploration of familial love, both the family you’re born to, and the one you find along the way. Robinson has written a treatise on the effects of colourism and class divisions that is heartbreaking and raw, yet joyful. This vivid story transported me to Pumkin’s world through an excursion of the senses, the sights, the sounds, and especially the tastes of Jamaica, taking me back to the one journey I took to my fatherland and leaving me yearning to return.

Ishi Robinson was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She has lived in Bern, Toronto, Rome, London and now lives in Berlin with her Czech husband. Her first published work was a short story in Jamaica’s national newspaper when she was eleven years old. At seventeen, she sent a letter to her father from Switzerland that he thought was so funny he sent it to the other national newspaper, which snagged her a weekly column on teenage life in Kingston. She also previously wrote a weekly column on life as an expat in Rome for a now defunct online magazine. She got back into fiction writing in Berlin, from where she has published short stories in several online publications and one anthology. Sweetness in the Skin is her first novel.