How to Say Babylon

In this incredible new memoir, the poet Safiya Sinclair recounts her childhood living on the fringes as a Rastafari in Jamaica. 'How To Say Babylon' is a coming-of-age  story of liberation from the suffocating beliefs of her father. She begins her childhood by the sea in a place called White House with her mother's family, until she is five when her father moves the family to Montego Bay; as he spirals deeper into depression, his fear that 'Babylon' will ruin his wife and daughters is the cloud that blocks out all sun. The beauty of reading a memoir by a poet is that every word packs a punch. The audiobook is a pleasure to listen to with Safiya's gorgeous lilting accent.

I learned so much about Jamaica and the religion of Rasta, which is fascinating and not what I had imagined. It's a heartbreaking portrait of a Rasta girl hood and how words were her lifeline and savior.