The Star Side of Bird Hill, the debut novel by The Offing contributing editor Naomi Jackson, is now available from Penguin Press.
Recently excerpted in The Offing, The Star Side of Bird Hill tells the story of two sisters, Dionne and Phaedra, sent to Barbados from Brooklyn by their mother, Avril, who is unable to give them the care they need. Avril, an AIDS nurse dealing with mounting depression, arranges for the sisters to live with their grandmother, Hyacinth, in her childhood community, Bird Hill. The transition isn’t easy for Dionne, who struggles to adapt to her life away from her friends and boyfriend in New York; but Phaedra’s youthful curiosity makes her more open to exploring Barbados.
The Star Side of Bird Hill has been praised by Michael Shaub of NPR who writes that Jackson “makes Barbados come to life” with her “evocative, lyrical writing.” Kirkus lauds Jackson’s novel as an “engrossing and poignant coming-of-age story populated with engaging, well-drawn characters.” It is also included on the long list for the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.
Naomi Jackson will be celebrating the book’s launch at Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, tonight at 7:30 pm; at Oblong Books & Music in Rhinebeck, New York, July 9th at 7 pm; and at the Williams College Sawyer Library in Williamstown, MA, July 10th, at 3:30 pm. For a full list of appearances, click here.