Sleep On, Beloved — Cecil Foster

When Cecil Foster's No Man in the House was published, E. Annie Proulx proclaimed that he shows the brave characters of West Indian women as no one else has. Now, in Sleep On, Beloved, Foster tells the moving story of a Caribbean immigrant woman who leaves behind everything in order to build a better life for her family.Ona Morgan is a passionate, determined woman who leaves her Jamaican home, her friends and traditions, and her newborn daughter, Suzanne, to come to North America. Thwarted by the demons of bad luck, lack of money, and an unfortunate marriage, Ona is plunged into an alien culture and a painful struggle against racism. As her young daughter grows up in Jamaica, devotedly cared for by her beloved grandmother, Ona must defer her plans to bring Suzanne to Toronto again and again.It takes twelve long years before Suzanne and Ona are reunited. But Suzanne cannot warm to this mother who left her behind, and who never prepared her for the harsh realities of life in North America. Now Ona is left to struggle with the rebelliousness of her beloved daughter.Ona and Suzanne find themselves locked in battle, each too proud and too damaged to ask for help. Suzanne punishes her mother by hiding the obedient, devout Suzanne of Jamaica and creating a new, urban Suzanne—hard, rebellious, and detached. It is only when Ona, overwhelmed by worldly pressures, becomes utterly lost that Suzanne allows her true self to emerge—strong, resourceful, and able to rebuild her mother's shattered hopes.