If I Survive You

More about the book

A major debut, blazing with style and heart, follows a Jamaican family in Miami striving for more. In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee political violence in Kingston, only to find that America is far from the promised land. As Black immigrants, they face exclusion and hardship, enduring Hurricane Andrew and the 2008 recession while living in a house so cursed that even their pet fish jumps out of its tank. Despite their struggles, the family is driven by what their younger son, Trelawny, calls "the exquisite, racking compulsion to survive." Masterfully constructed with heart and humor, the linked stories center on Trelawny as he navigates financial disaster, racism, and misfortune. After a fight with Topper, who grapples with his own failures and longing for Jamaica, Trelawny escapes homelessness through a series of odd, often hilarious jobs. Meanwhile, his brother Delano attempts a disastrous scheme to regain custody of his children, and cousin Cukie searches for an absent father. Each character seeks stability while confronting the dangers of climbing without a safety net. Pulsing with lyricism and sly commentary, this debut unravels what it means to exist between homes and cultures in a world shaped by capitalism and white supremacy, marking Escoffery as a remarkable storyteller chronicling American life at its most challenging and hopeful.