Death Register

by Dwight Thompson

In this searingly honest debut novel, Jamaican author Dwight Thompson fearlessly and candidly explores themes of homophobia, emerging sexuality, identity, and the devastating effects of abuse.Brought up by his grandparents, Chauncey Knuckle has done well for a country boy. He has won a place at a prestigious college for boys, and his juvenile writing has won him prizes and some praise. But he can only wonder what kind of a person he has become. He witnessed his closest friend, Tristan, shot dead by the police and wonders about his role in Tristan’s downfall. Why did he fail to expose respected elder, Deacon Mac, for abusing Tristan when they were boys?

The college Chauncey enters is an institution still infected with the hangovers of colonialism, that offers a training in elitism, misogyny, and homophobia. Chauncy discovers, too, that the boundaries between elite schooling and the criminal gang life of Montego Bay are crossed far more often than the students’ parents could ever imagine.

266 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2019

Reviews

[Mackeda(islandgyalreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how I feel about this one

[Isaiah Burnley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A raw take on the Caribbean experience told from the authors point of view, this book speaks about a lot of the specialised issues happening in our societies here in the Caribbean. The open and unfair Cultural aggression toward Homosexual, and bisexual individuals, and the fact that they have little to no support. it speaks about issues like sex trafficking, this book rawness in literature, could be callus and a lot of the time scenes can be plain gross, but that adds to its Grotesque nature. this book also captures the beauty of The island of Jamaica, its unique flavour and colour, and the nature of the people who lives there. we follow a young writer on his journey of becoming something, faced with natural issues of peer pressure, loss, regret, Grief, and of unusual sexual desires. This book also hints at the colourist and racist issues that plague the Caribbean.