What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You

'An outstanding debut' CHERIE JONES, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House

'Vivid and authentic' LEONE ROSS, author of This One Sky Day

'Cacophonic, alive and heartbreaking' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE, author of The Mercies

At eighteen years old, Dinah gave away her baby son to the rich couple she worked for before they left Jamaica. They never returned. She never forgot him.

Eighteen years later, a young man comes from the US to Kingston. From the moment she sees him, Dinah never doubts - this is her son.

What happens next will make everyone question what they know and where they belong.

A powerful story of belonging, identity and inheritance, What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You brings together a blazing chorus of voices to evoke Jamaica's ghetto, dance halls, criminal underworld and corrupt politics, at the beating heart of which is a mother's unshakeable love for her son.

'Irresistible' CURDELLA FORBES, author of A Tall History of Sugar

'Arresting' LISA ALLEN-AGOSTINI, author of The Bread the Devil Knead

'Wonderful' JACOB ROSS, author of The Bone Readers

'Exciting' YEWANDE OMOTOSO, author of An Unusual Grief

'Thrilling'CELESTE MOHAMMED, author of Pleasantview




Genre: Literary Fiction

"Imagine yourself on your front porch with your neighbour, in the cool of the afternoon when all your housework is done; get yourself a little coconut water and allow Sharma Taylor to tell you about all the goings-on of this neighbourhood of Kingston. Girl, if you see drama! Drama, girl! ! And this being the Caribbean, nobody's going to walk on by when they hear a good story being told, and before you know it, you have the whole cast of characters on the porch with you, everyone clamouring to tell their side of the story - the Jamaican dialogue in this novel is a particular strength. As one of the characters proclaims, about a particularly good spliff: 'Is de real stuff, dis, my yute!' Rich and exuberant." - Claire Adam

"A cacophonic, alive, heart-breaking story of a particular place and time, made universal by its truths and wisdom about love." - Kiran Millwood Hargrave

"Pulses with the colour and cadence of Jamaican culture in a multi-layered story told with empathy and intelligence. It is both an elegy of great elegance and a testament to the resilience and optimism of Jamaican people. Sharma's skilled storytelling drew me into the heads and hearts of the residents of Jacks Hill and Lazarus Gardens and did not let me go. I'll never forget this cast of characters or the voice of this accomplished writer - an outstanding debut." - Cherie Jones

"Truth-telling! Taylor's debut is tender, violent and uncompromising in turns. A vivid and authentic Jamaica that tells a tale too often hidden, for fantasies of sun, sea and sand." - Leone Ross