My Own Dear People
Dwight Thompson. Akashic, $18.95 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-1-63614-191-6
The intense latest from Thompson (Death Register) revolves around a Jamaican man tormented by memories of witnessing the rape of his high school teacher. As a student at an all-boys prep school in Jamaica, Nyjah Messado spends his free time writing poetry, charming girls, working as a meal delivery boy, and palling around with his classmate and friend Chadwell, an arrogant kid with the “good looks to match his manner.” Six years later, however, Nyjah remains haunted by the on-campus gang rape of teacher trainee Maude Dallmeyer, led by a boy named Snow after Ms. Dallmeyer caught him and another boy engaged in oral sex in front of their classmates, including Chadwell. Nyjah rushes to the headmaster’s office but can’t bring himself to report what he saw, while Ms. Dallmeyer leaves the school and nothing comes of the crime. After college, Nyjah has increasing trouble keeping the peace with Chadwell, who shamelessly embodies the sort of toxic masculinity and homophobia that’s encouraged in their culture. Nyjah, overwhelmed by guilt and feeling “like a man runnin’ from himself,” searches for Maude, wishing to apologize. Thompson’s novel effectively taps into the complexities of boyhood friendships and masculinity in its portrayal of Nyjah’s sluggish progress toward a sense of justice. This one leaves a mark. (Apr.)
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Reviewed on: 05/01/2025
Genre: Fiction