Cormorant Books

Reviews

​

“Historical fiction packs the same punch as a five-act opera in Zilla Jones’ much-anticipated The World So Wide. With a heart as complex as Grenada’s turbulent past, heroine Felicity Alexander witnesses her homeland brace against waves of political change. Standing ovation and flowers thrown at Jones’ feet for this brilliant first novel.”

— Catherine Hernandez, author and screenwriter of Scarborough the book and film

 

“Zilla Jones’ lavish saga spanning four countries and fifteen years, is a coming-of-age account of its star diva, Felicity, and indeed the island of Grenada itself. Jones makes the glorious and tragic island story one about people, both the architects of ideological hope, and the victims of their own hubris, miscalculation and disappointment. Their passions, political, cultural and romantic,  unfold to create layers of tension and misunderstanding, unity and division in their personal lives as surely as their bold dreams create hope and pride and then disaster on the international stage. Felicity, who straddles two worlds, black and white, finds her voice through music, which becomes her life’s calling. In this telling, she bucks suffocating strictures of family, religion and the various mores of society. Jones' distance from formal facts of history frees the reader from nit-picking the details, but it also widens our perspective to human and therefore universal truths ― and to the effects of the colonial experience and the agonizingly personal toll it takes in the drive to free ourselves from the toxic yoke of colonialism.”

— Rachel Manley, author of The Fellowship, The Black Peacock, and the Governor General’s Literary Award–winning Drumblair: Memories of a Jamaican Childhood​

​

“I adore Felicity Alexander, the woman at the heart of this novel. She is complex, delightfully melodramatic, and passionate about sex, opera and politics. Hers is a voice, oh so full, that refuses to be neither circumscribed nor colonized. Read this novel and fall in love.”

— David Bergen, author of The Time in Between

​

“[The] World So Wide immerses us in the complex inner life of opera prodigy Felicity; a defiant, tumultuous spirit with an insatiable heart. Propelled by loss and family history, Felicity's ambitions and desires collide against the reverberations of Grenada's colonial history. Jones addresses the complexities of diasporic identity with candor and sensitivity in this affective story about a woman and a nation constrained by the horrors of the past. Jones explores the transcendent connections forged through art and love, and the ways in which political acts of bravery are driven by a profound yearning for acceptance, community, and a sense of belonging. From the grey streets of London, to the verdant landscapes of Grenada, to the stage ... Felicity emerges as a beacon of light. This work is a captivating, exquisite, and unforgettable journey.”

— Denise Da Costa, author of the Toronto Book Award–longlisted And the Walls Came Down

​

“The World So Wide is a nimble, clear-seeing portrait of a generation’s complex inheritances preceding and extending from the Grenada Revolution. As sharp and clear as a stream in sunlight, The World So Wide is Jones’ beautiful, musical, astute, and richly earned entrance into the tome of vital Caribbean diasporic literature.”

— Canisia Lubrin, author of Code Noir