The resulting work somehow manages to be breezily deep-a rare combination.” “An impressive act of world building: Enchantingly, weaves together a story of second-chance love, a lush ode to food and community, and a humanistic reminder that societies must examine their biases. Marlon James, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf “I deeply admire Popisho- and also, not so secretly, bitterly envy it.

Inspired by the author’s Jamaican homeland, inflected with rhythms and textures of an amalgam of languages, it is a dazzling, major work of fiction.Ī New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceĪ Most Anticipated Book of 2021: The Guardian, The Millions, Paperback Paris, Cosmopolitan UK, Alma Leone Ross’s Popisho is a masterful delight: a playful love story, a portrait of community, a boldly sensual meditation on desire and addiction, and a critique of the legacies of corruption and colonialism. Before it comes, before the end of the day, this wildly imaginative narrative will take us across the islands, through their history, and into the lives of unforgettable characters. Meanwhile, graffiti messages from an unknown source are asking hard questions. The governor’s daughter, Sonteine, still hasn’t come into her cors, but her corrupt father is demanding the macaenus make a feast for her wedding. Anise, his long-lost love, is on a march toward reckoning with her healing powers. Xavier Redchoose is the macaenus of his generation, anointed by the gods to make each resident one perfect meal when the time is right. A place of stunning beauty and incorrigible mischief, destiny and mystery, it is also a place in need of change. Somewhere far away-or maybe right nearby-lies an archipelago called Popisho. From the gods: a thing so inexpressibly your own.

voice sings out loud and pure.” -Eowyn Ivey, The New York Times Book ReviewĪn uproarious, sensual novel, Leone Ross’s Popisho conjures a world where magic is everywhere, food is fate, politics are broken, and love awaits.Įveryone in Popisho was born with a little something-something, boy, a little something extra. Ross’s lyrical, rhythmic writing is something to be savored.

Popisho review