Where to Start Reading Curdella Forbes
Because Curdella Forbes's books are standalone novels and story collections rather than a continuous chronological series, you can technically read them in any order you choose. However, if you want the best possible introduction to her lush prose and structural style, we recommend starting with her most widely acclaimed novel:
- A Tall History of Sugar (2019): Start here. This epic, award-winning novel is her most accessible and serves as a perfect showcase of her ability to weave history, folklore, and post-colonial themes with deep emotional resonance.
- Songs of Silence (2002): Move here next to experience her early style. This collection of linked stories explores rural Jamaican life in the 1960s through the eyes of a young girl.
- Ghosts (2012): Continue with her second novel, which shifts to speculative fiction set on a fictional futuristic Caribbean island facing environmental challenges.
- A Permanent Freedom (2008): Dive deeper into her adult fiction with this collection of nine linked stories that explore themes of diaspora, migration, and mortality, bound together by a supernatural witness.
- Flying with Icarus and Other Stories (2003): Finish with this vibrant collection of stories written for younger readers, which updates classic folklore with Caribbean perspectives.
Detailed Breakdown of Curdella Forbes's Books
Songs of Silence (2002)
Forbes's fiction debut is a lyrical collection of stories set in rural Jamaica during the 1960s. The narrative is structured as a series of childhood and adolescent memories observed by a young girl named Marlene. The stories focus on the power of silence—both the protective silences of family secrets and the suffocating silences of trauma, racial divisions, and community expectations. It is a stunning study of Caribbean childhood and oral storytelling traditions.
Flying with Icarus and Other Stories (2003)
Targeted toward younger audiences and educators, this collection reimagines classic myths and folklore from a distinctly Caribbean perspective. Forbes adapts traditional oral storytelling styles to write fresh, culturally rooted tales that speak to the struggles and triumphs of Caribbean youth.
A Permanent Freedom (2008)
This collection of nine linked stories blurs the line between short fiction and the novel form. The narratives explore characters on the margins of society—migrants, outcasts, and individuals confronting terminal illnesses like AIDS, trauma, and death. Connecting these disparate lives is Aluin (or Aliun), a shape-shifting, supernatural witness. The book is widely celebrated by literary scholars for its poetic density, its command of language, and how it reframes traditional concepts of gender and kinship.
Ghosts (2012 / 2020)
Set on the fictional, futuristic Caribbean island of Jacaranda, Ghosts is a complex, speculative family memoir. The narrative is constructed through the distinct voices of multiple family members dealing with the tragic death of their brother, set against a backdrop of rapid technological shifts and global warming. It is a haunting exploration of grief, environmental crisis, and the thin boundary between truth and memory.
A Tall History of Sugar (2019)
This Hurston/Wright Legacy Award-winning novel is Forbes's breakout masterpiece. Set against the backdrop of Jamaica's transition from British colonialism to independence, the book follows the lifelong bond between Moshe Fisher, a boy born with pale, transparent skin, and Arrienne, the girl who becomes his protector and soulmate. Spanning decades and moving between Jamaica and London, it is a grand, magical realist epic that explores race, colonial legacy, and the transcendent power of love.
What to Know Before You Start
To fully appreciate Curdella Forbes's work, it helps to understand her unique approach to style and language:
- The Linguistic Dance: Forbes writes using a fluid blend of Standard English and Jamaican Patois (Creole). In novels like A Tall History of Sugar, the dialect is initially introduced with context clues for accessibility, but as the story progresses, she allows the Patois to flow freely, reflecting the authentic rhythms of Jamaican voice, humor, and resilience.
- Academic Foundations: Forbes is a professor of Caribbean Literature at Howard University. Her scholarly background heavily informs the post-colonial theory, gender dynamics, and migration histories explored in her fiction.
- Magical Realism and Folklore: Rather than sticking to strict historical realism, Forbes regularly incorporates elements of the supernatural—like the shape-shifter Aluin in A Permanent Freedom or Moshe's unique physical state in A Tall History of Sugar—to examine how history, myth, and personal identity intersect.