ABOUT
THE BOOK

Gertrude Samphire’s long life in Jamaica has been, thus far, a lonely train ride: between her childhood raised as an outcast by cold and distant relatives, to her courtship and eventual marriage to a neglectful husband, to her time single-handedly raising children who are eventually taken from her — in one way or another — or drift away on their own, it’s no wonder Gertrude has focused mainly on self-preservation.

After her house is damaged by a hurricane, she is sent by her estranged eldest daughter, Celia, to Ellesmere Lodge, a retirement home for the elite. At first, her stay feels like yet another stranding — until Gertrude discovers freedom she never had before: to write; to dance; to experience friendship; and to look back on her life with fresh eyes and realize how she was wronged and how she has wronged