An interview with Lisa Smith
Author of Jamaica Road
This week I had the great pleasure of interviewing debut novelists Lisa Smith and Mel Pennant at Brixton Library. They’ve both written amazing books centred on the Windrush generations and having loved their writing so much, I wanted to share more about them and their books here!
This week, I wanted to know all about Lisa’s novel, Jamaica Road.
Tell us about Jamaica Road in your own words.
Jamaica Road is a coming-of-age story set in South London during the 1980s. At its centre is Daphne, a British Jamaican girl and her friendship with a boy named Connie who at the start of the book has recently arrived from Jamaica. Very early in the novel we find out that Connie and his mother “nuh land” -meaning they are illegal immigrants. We follow their lives for over a decade and during that time we watch them become teenagers, then adults, and fall in and out of love with other people as well as each other. All this is set against the turbulent backdrop of Britain in the Thatcherite era.
Daphne’s relationship with Connie is the heart of the book. Where did those two characters come from? And did they evolve over the course of writing the novel?
When I’m writing I always tend to start with character rather than plot. Like many writers it is often an autobiographical event or memory that sparks my imagination. The characters of Daphne and Connie “came to me” in a creative writing class, the instructor told us to imagine an “outsider” and then write a description of that person. Usually during those exercises my mind goes blank, however, this time, an image of a boy who turned up at my primary school halfway into the first term just dropped into my head. This boy was very tall for an eight-year-old, I remember that his uniform didn’t quite fit him and that he was wearing plimsols. But what was most striking was that he spoke with a Jamaican accent. As I began scribbling down these details at almost the same time the voice of Daphne Johnson emerged, her surprise at the sudden appearance of this gangly black boy in class, her horror at the sight of his ill-fitting clothes, the way that accent sparked alarm, but also curiosity. In real life this boy and I never became friends, in fact, he and his family moved away. But now I found myself wondering “what if…”
Daphne has many similar traits to me, quiet, bookish, precocious, an observer. But as always in fiction characters evolve as the plot develops and they reveal other sides of themselves. Daphne is far bolder and braver than I ever was growing up in a white-working class area during the 1980s.
Daphne struggles more with her British Jamaican identity than Connie does, despite his immigration issues, and that was something that I could understand really well. Were you using your own experience in writing her struggle to work out where she fit in?
The short answer is yes! Although Connie is an immigrant it is Daphne who despite being British is looking for belonging. The longer answer is that once I decided to write this story, I started thinking back to my own childhood in the 1970s and 80s, as well as steeping myself in the period. One of my go-to primary sources were newspapers -especially the local press. While I thought I had a pretty good memory for the period I discovered that the levels of racism and anti-immigrant feeling was far worse than I remembered. Like now, there were politicians who leaned into populist sentiment – when in opposition Margaret Thatcher openly stated that British communities felt “swapped” by “foreigners” and pledged to be tough on immigration if they came to power, which they did in 1979. The more I researched the more vividly I remembered the extent to which I was made to feel that even though I was born here I was not seen as British -or British enough. As we are viewing the world through Daphne’s eyes it was essential to lean into this and by touching upon some of the real historical events the novel highlights the extent to which the children of the Windrush migrants, felt that disconnect, we were rightly proud of our Caribbean heritage, but were British too and deserved to be seen as such.
There’s so much 1980s nostalgia in the novel – the music and cultural references that many of us remember fondly, as well as the less happy moments of Black British history. What made you choose that decade as a setting?
As I mentioned before the characters and the period chose me rather than the other way around! In many ways I enjoyed steeping myself in the details such as Gola trainers, cola cubes, Lovers Rock and Two-tone music. I hadn’t set out to chronical the events in Black British History but once I began to see the world through the eyes of these two young people it was hard to ignore the impact this mood and these significant moments would have on Daphne and Connie. I’ve always loved history; I love the fact that history is living and breathing not just one unchanging line of dates and facts - especially when other voices are given space to add their perspectives. Many now regard the disturbances and disorder in Brixton as well as in other parts of the country in 1981 as an “Uprising”, this was the Windrush generation and their children fighting back against racism both within the police force and the wider society. My novel also references the New Cross Fire and The Black People’s Day of Action those moments led to an upsurge in campaigning, politics and blacktavism. Yes, there were many, very unhappy moments in the 80s but there was also a fight back and I wanted to show this in the novel.
This is your debut novel. How have you found your journey to publication? What has been the biggest surprise?
The road to publication seems to be full of intense bursts of activity and then long silences. The process is long anyway, typically I think that it’s around 18 months to publication, mine took two years because my US publisher’s slate was full for 2024 and so rather than have a massive gap between releases my UK publisher decided to re-schedule for to 2025 so the launches could coincide. It’s been a long time!
Is there any one thing that you wish someone had told you before you decided to become a writer?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was 8-years old so for me this is a long-held dream come true. I do wish that I had been introduced to Instagram earlier, it’s such a useful tool for engaging with readers, promoting events and such but it has been a steep learning curve!
What are you most looking forward to over the next year? Are you working on anything new?
I’m planning a trip to New York on the autumn, it’s a family holiday but I also hope to meet my US editor, agent and team while I am there. I’ve had this email / zoom-based relationship with Maris (editor) and Stephaine (agent) for almost three years, but we’ve never met in real life.
I am also currently working on a new novel. I had expected to write something contemporary next, however I’ve gone even further back in time to the 1950s so I’m now having to get my head around pre-decimalisation and what food items were still on the ration.
And finally, a quick-fire round! Which would you choose and why?
Joyce Sims or Ann Peebles?
This is hard as both are amazing singers. If I really had to choose it would be Ann Peebles, ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ is one of my favourite songs and makes her the soul version of Billie Holiday
Brixton or Lewisham
Brixton -better food, better shops, better vibes
London or Jamaica
So hard! Of course, I love Jamaica and I’m proud of my heritage. I’ve been lucky to live or spend time in other countries and other part of the UK, but I bloody love London, it’s my home.
Jamaica Road is available now from all good bookshops! And you can catch up with Lisa online here:
Instagram: @lisa4884smith
And in person here:
25th June – Novelists on Windrush Day, 6.30pm Waterstones Piccadilly (tickets £10 / £8 available via Eventbrite)
2nd July – South London Stories, 7.30pm Blackheath Halls (tickets £10, available via blackheathhalls.com)
Will definitely check this one out Louise a thanks for sharing. William