In some respects the literary award season isn’t all that different from the film award season. The most recent releases have an advantage. And sometimes those released earlier are forgotten. As this year’s queer lit award season approaches, queer reader implores you: Don’t forget Patsy.
Patsy is the the story of a woman who is forgotten by society: a queer woman of color–an immigrant without papers. Maybe you’ve seen her working in a restaurant or a hotel. Maybe she cleaned your home. Or took care of your child. Maybe you remember her first name. Maybe not. But her life matters. And as this meticulously-written novel unfolds, Nicole Dennis-Benn shows us why.
The novel begins with a vivid description of Patsy waiting on line at the American Embassy. Can she make her story believable? Should she change her story? She’s overdressed. The heat is oppressive. She’s on her way to reconnect with the woman who might just be the love of her life. Immediately Ms. Dennis-Benn’s remarkable literary skills are readily apparent. She combines skillful description with telling details. And she is expert in conveying the Jamaican dialects. But what makes Patsy so spectacularly good is quite simply, the plot. For while Patsy’s new life may be tough, it is rarely boring. Ms. Dennis-Benn has written a genuine page-turner. For this reason, queer reader is reluctant to reveal too much of the plot–except to say this is a story not only of Patsy, but also of the daughter she left behind. Keep tissues handy.
Ironically Patsy’s journey is fundamentally a search for home. A search for comfort foods like oxtail soup and properly spiced Jamaican foods. And, of course someone to love.
At times her life in New York City seems almost unbearable–as if all of the structures are specifically designed to drain her of happiness. As a Jamaican friend explains it:
Dis is not our country, an’ immigration will do evert’ing dey can to remind us of dat. We have neither di right nor permission to enjoy human things like Americans–vacation, rest, strolling in di park. Di sunset. Who are we to do dat when we taking up space, taxes and air, according to dem? Dey have all de power to punish us fah stealing from dem–fah daring to t’ink we can dream, much less love.
And yet, in the end this is a story of hope. Indeed it is hope that drives this book.
Needless to say, QueerReader strongly recommends this remarkable novel.
Nicole Dennis-Benn’s Patsy is published by Liveright.
Published: 4/26/20
UPDATE 6/1/2020: Today it was announced that Patsy won Lambda Literary’s Lesbian Fiction Award. Good call!