Akashic Books imprint: 303 books

By the author of Waiting in Vain: “A sparkling gift, the tale of a meager, shoeless, raggedy abandoned Cinderella whose hardships make her all the wiser” (The Washington Post).   Set in 1942 on the imagined island of San Carlos—a cultural cocktail of Trinidad, Cuba, and Jamaica—this is the...

Reggae's rebel spirit blazes in this hot selection of short fiction from Jamaica's Calabash Writer's Workshop. Set in the Caribbean and the U.S.A., the stories sweep across a range of moods and genres to create a narrative LP of fascinating voices. From the old lady who gives a "how to"...

“A fast-paced story of father and son, packed with misadventures and set against the backdrop of contemporary Jamaica” (Kirkus Reviews).   Everton Dorril, a rising star at a Jamaican beverage company, immediately fears the worst when his stepmother calls one morning to tell him his father is...

The River City emerges as a hot spot for unseemly noir in this anthology with a foreword by New York Times–bestselling author Tom Robbins. A rich literary tradition sets the stage for this talented group of authors who take their inspiration from Virginia’s capital city. Edgar Allan Poe...

Years after her son was abducted, a mother opens the door to a young man in this “unique and very moving novel” (Booklist).   Beverley Cottrell had a prestigious job, a beautiful husband and baby boy. It was all stolen from her one winter afternoon when her son, Malakay, was kidnapped from a...

“A perceptive and moving tale of an African-American middle-class marriage struggling to right itself.” —Publishers Weekly   Justin and Sally Peters are both passionate educators—Justin a hardened, Harvard-educated professor of literature at a small public college, and Sally a gentle elementary...

"Bernice L. McFadden is one of the best contemporary literary writers out there today...Her brilliance, her talent as a novelist, is the very life she breathes into all of her characters." --Terry McMillan, from the Introduction "Bernice L. McFadden was one of the best writers...

“Every country (if she’s lucky) gets the Mark Twain she deserves, and Winkler is ours, bristling with savage Jamaican wit” (Marlon James). Being dead is most definitely an impediment to writing a book, under ordinary circumstances. But the narrator of this novel, Taddeus Augustus Baps,...

This tragicomic novel set in sixteenth-century Jamaica is a “gusty, boisterous, [and] entertaining . . . slice of historical fiction” (Alan Cheuse, NPR, All Things Considered).   Winner of the 2014 Townsend Prize for Fiction   A fortune-seeking band of ragtag sailors travel aboard the Santa...

“A captivating tale of Oufoula Sindede, an African diplomat in a passionless marriage who falls madly in love with Marguerite, a New York City artist.” —Essence   Dutifully married to lovely Nerida, Oufoula goes through the motions, formally keeping his distance from the woman with whom he...

“[Evaristo’s] chef d’oeuvre; a masterful dissection of the life of a 74 year-old, British-Caribbean gay man.” —The Huffington Post * Winner of the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction * A Top Ten Favorite of the American Library Association’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender...

A British businessman woos a Caribbean woman—and her disapproving family—in this “engrossing novel” (Insight). Nathaniel Jones, a middle-aged businessman from England, travels to the Caribbean island of Anguilla to spend a fortnight on holiday—and finds himself captivated by a brilliant...

A novel of family, privilege, and poverty, described as “King Lear in the Caribbean” (O, The Oprah Magazine). A New York Post Must-Read Book Peter Ducksworth, a Trinidadian widower of English ancestry, retires to Barbados, believing he will find an earthly paradise there. He decides...

“Deftly explores family strife and immigrant identity . . . expressive prose and convincing characters that immediately hook the reader.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review   Winner of the PEN Oakland Award for Literary Excellence Long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award   When...