This slim volume calls itself a memoir of a woman whose life was affected by the volcanic eruption of Montserrat’s Soufrière in 1995.  Weekes was born in London of Montserratian parentage and she grew up there and in Montserrat.

She describes herself as writer, performance poet, actor and educator, and all these identities take turns at directing this intensely personal narrative.

IN HER DEBUT NOVEL, What a Mother’s Love Don’t Teach You (Virago, 2022), Jamaican author Sharma Taylor explores life in the poverty-stricken area of Lazarus Gardens, going beyond the poverty and violence to reveal characters with dreams, aspirations and disappointments that speak to their humanity in the midst of chaos, corruption and danger.