The Same Earth: Kei Miller

When Tessa Walcott’s blue, green and polka-dot panties go missing in the small village of Watersgate Jamaica, Imelda Richardson hits on the idea of starting a Neighbourhood Watch program. But Pastor Braithwaite, long resentful of Imelda’s high standing in the community, uses his Sunday sermon to vilify the idea and turn the villagers against her. The next morning Imelda wakes to find that the river has changed course overnight, flooding her home. She escapes with an angry heart, believing she will never return because not only have the villagers turned against her and her home been flooded but Joseph, the local Rastaman, seems unable to declare his love. As Imelda flees, the story takes us back to when her father, instead of burying her umbilical cord so that she would be anchored safely, threw it into the river freeing her to roam the world. It exposes the pettiness, passions, inadequacies and tragedies of the people who inhabit her world and draw her to this moment and beyond. Imelda is a strong and passionate character who reminds me of Alexander McCall Smith’s Precious Ramotswe, and anyone who loves the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, will thoroughly enjoy The Same Earth.