Read by the Made in Grimsby bookclub in May 2024.
**Ordinarily, books are suggested by the group and then we vote on what to read as a group. However, once a year, I choose a book from the previous years Book Prize for us to read. This is our book for 2024.**
Synopsis of If I Survive You
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
A major debut that follows a Jamaican family in Miami navigating recession, racism and Hurricane Andrew.
1979. Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But they soon learn that the welcome in America will be far from warm.
Trelawny, their youngest son, comes of age in a society which regards him with suspicion, greeting him with the puzzled question ‘What are you?’
Their eldest son Delano’s longing for a better future for his own children is equalled only by his recklessness in trying to secure it.
As both brothers navigate the obstacles littered in their path – an unreliable father, racism, a financial crisis and Hurricane Andrew – they find themselves increasingly pitted against one another. Will their rivalry be the thing that finally tears their family apart?
If I Survive You pulses with inimitable style, heart and barbed humour while unravelling what it means to carve out an existence between cultures, homes and pay checks. It announces Jonathan Escoffery as a chronicler of life at its most gruesome and hopeful.
From Amazon’s listing of If I Survive You.
As someone who is only a few years younger than Trelawny, I found this an incredibly interesting read. For me this was a story about generational divides, and how the many different factors that we are brought up with can completely change our perspectives about the world we exist in.
This inevitably created huge amounts of conflict between Trelawny and his Jamaican-born father and older brother. Their experiences were different and it shows.
A Challenge
At our book club, we are not afraid to try books outside of our comfort zone, and I think If I Survive You very much did that for most of us.
The language – especially the chapters from Trelawny’s Dad’s POV were incredibly difficult to read because they were written in a Jamaican dialect. A couple of us noted that we had to read sections several times to fully absorb what was being said, and a few people almost quit the book entirely after the second chapter.
I do, however, feel that the second chapter being written the way it was, was important because it showed the depth of the different worlds Trelawny and his Dad came from. Trelawny had been raised in America, and so his chapters were easier to read.
Leanne listened to the audiobook, and I was intrigued to know if the different chapters had different voices, because I think that would have added another level to the story: “Yes, all the character had different voices. It was great.” As such, I personally regret buying the book. I think, on this occasion, I should have listened to the audiobook instead. I think this might have made the Dad’s chapters much easier to digest.
