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Jamaica Road

By Lisa Smith
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Brief Description
"A gift I didn't know I needed" Leone Ross "Wonderful" Marcia Hutchinson "Jamaica Road exudes love . . . with a wisdom and warmth that jumps off the page" Vanessa Chan South London, 1981: Daphne is the only Black girl in her class. All she wants... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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A transformative love story about two best friends trying to find their way in their tight-knit British-Jamaican community.

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"A gift I didn't know I needed" Leone Ross

"Wonderful" Marcia Hutchinson

"Jamaica Road exudes love . . . with a wisdom and warmth that jumps off the page" Vanessa Chan

South London, 1981: Daphne is the only Black girl in her class. All she wants is to keep her head down, preferably in a book. The easiest way to survive is to go unnoticed.

Daphne's attempts at invisibility are upended when a boy named Connie Small arrives from Jamaica. Connie is the opposite of small in every way: lanky, outgoing, and unapologetically himself. Daphne tries to keep her distance, but Connie is magnetic. As they navigate growing up in a volatile, rapidly changing city, their families become close, and their friendship begins to shift into something more complicated. But when Connie reveals that he is 'nuh land' – meaning he's in England illegally – Daphne realises that she is dangerously entangled in Connie's fragile home life. Soon, long-buried secrets in both families threaten to tear them apart permanently.

Spanning one tumultuous decade, Jamaica Road is an emotionally expansive debut novel about race and class, the family you're born into, the family you choose and the limits of what true love can really conquer.

READERS ARE SAYING:

"A love story for the ages!" ★★★★★

"WHAT. A. BOOK . . . Made me feel ALL the feels" ★★★★★

"Beautifully rich . . . Book clubs are going to love this book" ★★★★★

"A beautiful coming-of-age love story that flows so effortlessly . . . This book spoke to my heart" ★★★★★

"Urgent, warm, romantic . . . Truly excellent" ★★★★★

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780349703596

Publisher: John Murray Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 11 June 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Dialogue Books

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 32.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 313g

Pages: 448

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Historical Fiction Lisa Smith Literary Fiction

About the Author

Lisa Smith is a writer from South London born to Caribbean parents. She has an MA in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she won the Pat Kavanagh Prize in 2019. Her short story Auld Lang Syne won the 2017 Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize and in 2020 she was selected to join the London Library Emerging Writers Programme. Jamaica Road is her first novel.

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  • Jamaica Road
    South London, 1981: Daphne is the only Black girl in her class. All she wants is to keep her head down, preferably in a book. The easiest way to survive is to go unnoticed. Daphne's attempts at invisibility are upended when a boy named Connie Small arrives from Jamaica. Connie is the opposite of small in every way: lanky, outgoing,...
    By Lisa Smith
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

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