Cherie Jones: Behind the Barbadian Picture Postcard

Barbados: the iconic location of runaway honeymoons, white sandy beaches, turquoise and diamond seawater, palm trees and cocktails. Cherie Jones tells a different tale, revealing the hidden – or rather ignored and invisible – side of this supposedly paradisal island in her dark novel How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House. This is a story of betrayal, loss and love, told through vivid voices; different generations bound by their experience of pernicious violence and misogyny. Cherie Jones is a lawyer, this is her first full-length fiction debut – and what a way to begin. The book has been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and is certain to be one of the most talked-about works of 2021. In this special event, Jones speaks to Culture Editor at gal-dem Kemi Alemoru about the novel, which delves beneath the surface of a perfect picture postcard, displacing myths of life with stories of existence and survival.

This is a live event, with an author Q&A.