She's Gone Book

The debut novel from Jamaica's award-winning poet.

Lawrence Rungren - Library Journal

A checkered romance between a Southern social science researcher and a Jamaican reggae musician is the subject of this debut novel from the Ghanian-born Dawes. Keisha meets Kofi, the scion of a wealthy but troubled Jamaican family, at a South Carolina club where his band is playing, and they are immediately attracted to each other. He follows her to New York, where she is involved in a research project, and she eventually follows him to Jamaica. There, her history of involvement in destructive relationships collides with his bouts of depression, resulting in a breakup despite her pregnancy, and she returns to South Carolina. A drawn-out cat-and-mouse game ensues, with Kofi pursuing Keisha and Keisha rejecting him. By turns sensual and painful, violent and tender, the novel explores love in the very real context of the human psyche, featuring two people who in the end don't necessarily triumph over their pasts but instead realize their willingness to work toward overcoming the history and habits that would push them apart. Recommended for public libraries.