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Published January 30, 2024
"Hemans’ thoughtful family tale is a balm for readers." —Kirkus Reviews
A lyrical, lush, evocative story about a fractured Jamaican family and a daughter determined to reclaim her home.
With news of her father’s passing, Pearline abruptly leaves her daughter and grandchildren behind in Brooklyn to return to her childhood home in Jamaica. But Pearline isn’t prepared for her father’s puzzling deathbed wish that she find her siblings—whom she hasn’t seen in 60 years—and discover the secret that tore her family apart.
Moving through time and place, from Cuba to Montego Bay and from Brooklyn to Havana, The House of Plain Truth traces Pearline’s reconciliation of what she thought she knew about her family and the truth of their origin.
Inspired by the author's own family story, this delicate, incisive novel explores the divided loyalties within a family, the true meaning of home, and what one woman must sacrifice to finally get what she wants.
Buy Audiobook
Published January 30, 2024
"Hemans’ thoughtful family tale is a balm for readers." —Kirkus Reviews
A lyrical, lush, evocative story about a fractured Jamaican family and a daughter determined to reclaim her home.
With news of her father’s passing, Pearline abruptly leaves her daughter and grandchildren behind in Brooklyn to return to her childhood home in Jamaica. But Pearline isn’t prepared for her father’s puzzling deathbed wish that she find her siblings—whom she hasn’t seen in 60 years—and discover the secret that tore her family apart.
Moving through time and place, from Cuba to Montego Bay and from Brooklyn to Havana, The House of Plain Truth traces Pearline’s reconciliation of what she thought she knew about her family and the truth of their origin.
Inspired by the author's own family story, this delicate, incisive novel explores the divided loyalties within a family, the true meaning of home, and what one woman must sacrifice to finally get what she wants.
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The novel’s sedate pacing, which evokes rocking-chair musings on mortality and responsibility, brings a welcome reprieve from stories laden with plot twists and action for the sake of it. Hemans’ thoughtful family tale is a balm for readers.
A captivating tale about the legacy of colonialism and the rippling effects of grief.
This is worth a look.
If you’ve enjoyed Donna Hemens’s previous novels, you’ll be similarly excited for her latest book, which exudes the reflective and intimate style I’ve come to appreciate in her work.
A gripping story about family secrets and sacrifice.
There are some novels so moving they demand a place in your memory and heart long after you have read them and you may become an evangelist pressing copies on friends. This is one such book.
The novel’s sedate pacing, which evokes rocking-chair musings on mortality and responsibility, brings a welcome reprieve from stories laden with plot twists and action for the sake of it. Hemans’ thoughtful family tale is a balm for readers.
A captivating tale about the legacy of colonialism and the rippling effects of grief.
This is worth a look.
If you’ve enjoyed Donna Hemens’s previous novels, you’ll be similarly excited for her latest book, which exudes the reflective and intimate style I’ve come to appreciate in her work.
A gripping story about family secrets and sacrifice.
There are some novels so moving they demand a place in your memory and heart long after you have read them and you may become an evangelist pressing copies on friends. This is one such book.
The novel’s sedate pacing, which evokes rocking-chair musings on mortality and responsibility, brings a welcome reprieve from stories laden with plot twists and action for the sake of it. Hemans’ thoughtful family tale is a balm for readers.
A captivating tale about the legacy of colonialism and the rippling effects of grief.
This is worth a look.
If you’ve enjoyed Donna Hemens’s previous novels, you’ll be similarly excited for her latest book, which exudes the reflective and intimate style I’ve come to appreciate in her work.
A gripping story about family secrets and sacrifice.
There are some novels so moving they demand a place in your memory and heart long after you have read them and you may become an evangelist pressing copies on friends. This is one such book.
