4.6
Biographies
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION
‘Lushly written and heart-stoppingly gripping’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO
‘Dazzling. Potent. Vital’ TARA WESTOVER
‘A story about hope, imagination and resilience’GUARDIAN
An extraordinary and inspiring memoir of family, education and resilience, from award-winning poet Safiya Sinclair.
There was more than one way to be lost, more than one way to be saved.
Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where luxury hotels line pristine white sand beaches, Safiya Sinclair grew up guarding herself against an ever-present threat. Her father, a volatile reggae musician and strict believer in a militant sect of Rastafari, railed against Babylon, the corrupting influence of the immoral Western world just beyond their gate. To protect the purity of the women in their family he forbade almost everything: nowhere but home and school, no friends but this family and no future but this path.
Her mother did what she could to bring joy to her children with books and poetry. But as Safiya’s imagination reached beyond its restrictive borders, her burgeoning independence brought with it ever greater clashes with her father. Soon she realised that if she was to live at all, she had to find some way to leave home. But how?
In seeking to understand the past of her family, Safiya Sinclair takes readers inside a world that is little understood by those outside it and offers an astonishing personal reckoning. How to Say Babylon is an unforgettable story of a young woman’s determination to live life on her own terms.
‘I adored this book … Unforgettable’ Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees
‘Electrifying’Observer
‘To read it is to believe that words can save’ Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings
‘An essential memoir’ Jesmyn Ward, author of Sing, Unburied, Sing
‘Full of courage and poetry … Has the power of truth telling’ Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch
‘Atmospheric and completely absorbing, this is a fascinating story lushly told’ Diana Evans, author of A House for Alice
‘Breathless, scorching … the book’s a banquet’New York Times
© 2023 Fourth Estate (Audiobook): 9780008491314
Release date
Audiobook: 3 October 2023
4.6
Biographies
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION
‘Lushly written and heart-stoppingly gripping’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO
‘Dazzling. Potent. Vital’ TARA WESTOVER
‘A story about hope, imagination and resilience’GUARDIAN
An extraordinary and inspiring memoir of family, education and resilience, from award-winning poet Safiya Sinclair.
There was more than one way to be lost, more than one way to be saved.
Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where luxury hotels line pristine white sand beaches, Safiya Sinclair grew up guarding herself against an ever-present threat. Her father, a volatile reggae musician and strict believer in a militant sect of Rastafari, railed against Babylon, the corrupting influence of the immoral Western world just beyond their gate. To protect the purity of the women in their family he forbade almost everything: nowhere but home and school, no friends but this family and no future but this path.
Her mother did what she could to bring joy to her children with books and poetry. But as Safiya’s imagination reached beyond its restrictive borders, her burgeoning independence brought with it ever greater clashes with her father. Soon she realised that if she was to live at all, she had to find some way to leave home. But how?
In seeking to understand the past of her family, Safiya Sinclair takes readers inside a world that is little understood by those outside it and offers an astonishing personal reckoning. How to Say Babylon is an unforgettable story of a young woman’s determination to live life on her own terms.
‘I adored this book … Unforgettable’ Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees
‘Electrifying’Observer
‘To read it is to believe that words can save’ Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings
‘An essential memoir’ Jesmyn Ward, author of Sing, Unburied, Sing
‘Full of courage and poetry … Has the power of truth telling’ Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch
‘Atmospheric and completely absorbing, this is a fascinating story lushly told’ Diana Evans, author of A House for Alice
‘Breathless, scorching … the book’s a banquet’New York Times
© 2023 Fourth Estate (Audiobook): 9780008491314
Release date
Audiobook: 3 October 2023
Step into an infinite world of stories
Overall rating based on 11 ratings
Thought-provoking
Inspiring
Page-turner
Download the app to join the conversation and add reviews.
Showing 2 of 11
Bhavna
27 Mar 2024
रस निष्पत्ति - रौद्र 😡, वीर 💪 (in readers)भाव निर्मिति - शोक🥺, क्रोध😡( in characters)Girl child in Rajasthan are often named Maafi (sorry) & barred from attending schoolIn Haryana women are dictated the terms on how to dress so that Men can control the urge to rape themMenstruating women are made to sit out in Orthodox Brahmin families. A ritual started to provide rest & comfort to women has taken such a derogatory meaning over the timeIn certain sects in Maharashtra & Karnataka where women born with dreadlocks are exploited in name of being a Goddess rather than treating their diseaseI am appalled at how deeply & widely atrocities on women have impregnated our Society & have traversed land & seas. The oppression named under the pretext of culture, religion, ritual may break a woman's heart but never her spiritHow to say Babylon is one such courageous story. Poet Safiya Sinclair takes us thru' her life journey where she suffered at the hands of her Rastafarian father.
Alma
9 Jan 2024
Such a beautiful book!
English
India