SONGS OF IRIE

The politically charged story of two girlfriends in 1970s Jamaica.

Despite wholly dissimilar home lives, Irie Rivers and Jillian Casey are music-loving best friends at an elite Jamaican high school. A controversial scholarship from the new progressive government is the only way brown-skinned Irie from the Kingston slums can afford her education. Lighter-skinned Jilly’s wealth and privilege come from her father’s position in the conservative opposition party. But as the girls graduate and struggle with growing political tensions that influence their diverging paths, they also experience the complications and tensions of budding desires. Irie’s father is a record shop owner at the center of reggae’s rise as a voice for a generation of poor Black radicals opposing the status quo that Jilly’s father upholds from the hills, where affluence goes hand in hand with elitism and anti-Blackness. Irie is becoming an impressive reggae singer in her own right, taking Jilly on risky, exciting late-night dance hall excursions. While politically motivated gang violence takes the lives of many in Irie’s community, by the time sheltered Jilly discovers her own father’s degree of responsibility for the death and suffering, personal and political issues may prove to be too much for the teens’ relationship to overcome. Tragedy strikes in the buildup to a key election, as Jamaican history, provocative lyricism, and relatable characters form an effective foundation for this bittersweet queer love story.

A richly intimate novel of rebellion, romance, and reggae.