A transformative love story about two best friends who fall for each other, fall apart, and try to find their way back together in their tight-knit British-Jamaican community.

South London, 1981: Daphne is the only Black girl in her class. All she wants is to keep her head down, preferably in a book. The easiest way to survive is to go unnoticed. 

Daphne’s attempts at invisibility are upended when a boy named Connie Small arrives from Jamaica. Connie is the opposite of small in every way: lanky, outgoing, and unapologetically himself. Daphne tries to keep her distance, but Connie is magnetic, and they form an intense bond. As they navigate growing up in a volatile, rapidly changing city, their families become close, and their friendship begins to shift into something more complicated. When Connie reveals that he and his mother “nuh land”—meaning they’re in England illegally—Daphne realizes that she is dangerously entangled in Connie’s fragile home life. Soon, long-buried secrets in both families threaten to tear them apart permanently.

Spanning one tumultuous decade, from the industrial docklands of the Thames to the sandy beaches of Calabash Bay, Jamaica Road is a deftly plotted and emotionally expansive debut novel about race and class, the family you’re born with and the family you choose, and the limits of what true love can really conquer.

BIO

Lisa Smith is a writer and filmmaker from South London born to Caribbean parents. She has an M.A. in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she won the Pat Kavanagh Prize in 2019. Her short story “Auld Lang Syne” won the 2017 Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, and she was a 2020 London Library Emerging Writer.

REVIEWS

“A winning debut… A sensitive portrayal of growing up Black in London… The novel resists final judgments and easy answers, recalling F. Scott Fitzgerald’s marker of a ‘first-rate intelligence’ — the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind, to ‘be able to see that things are hopeless yet be determined to make them otherwise.’… Profound.” -- Marion Winik, Boston Globe

“Smith’s dialogue is pitch-perfect. Most impressive is the way she draws Daphne and Connie, both complex characters constantly looking for somewhere to fit in. The writing is top-notch, and the novel manages to be heartfelt but never sentimental. This is a major achievement from an author with talent to spare. A moving, beautifully structured novel from an incredible new voice.” -- Kirkus, starred

“Smith’s captivating debut sees a British Jamaican woman take stock of the friendships and sense of purpose she found in her youth in 1980s Southeast London… In a narrative enriched by lilting patois and vibrant details of Jamaican cooking and the period’s ska scene, Smith’s well-rounded characters spring to life. This gritty drama hits hard.” -- Publishers Weekly, starred

“Poignant and gripping… Both deeply personal and powerfully political, tackling injustice without ever feeling didactic. Jamaica Road is a compelling, emotionally charged read that feels as urgent today as it would have decades ago, an unforgettable story of love, resistance, and self-discovery.” -- Booklist

[H]  Knopf Publishing Group  /  July 15, 2025

1.51" H x 9.42" L x 6.33" W (1.39 lbs) 448 pages