Search results for ""Drama, Drama""

Book SynopsisThis fascinating compendium of hundreds of lists providing thousands of interesting and entertaining facts, terms and trivia about literature, related to genres, literary periods, themes, authors, characters and awards.Table of ContentsAbout This Resource. Section 1. Literature. . . An Introduction. Section 2. Books. . . For All Ages. Section 3. Genres. . . For Every Taste. Section 4. Poetry. . . Reflection of the Soul. Section 5. Drama. . . Drama. . . Thereby Hangs a Tale. Section 6. Themes. . .Under One Umbrella. Section 7. Literary Periods. . .Intro One Era and Out the Other. Section 8. Potpourri. . .Weird, Whimsical, and Worthwhile. Section 9. Endings. . .References and Aids. Index of Authors.

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Book SynopsisUsing Authentic Video in the Language Classroom provides practical support and activities for teachers who want to use video with their learners.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; Why use authentic video?; What you need; Ways of using video; How to use this book; General guidelines for video activities; PART A: VIDEO DRAMA INTRODUCTION: Why and what?;1 FEATURE FILMS; Doing a film; The film and the book; 2 OTHER VIDEO DRAMA: Drama series; Sitcoms; Soap operas; 3 SHORT SEQUENCES:Drama clips; Comedy sketches; PART B: NON-FICTION VIDEO : INTRODUCTION: Why and what?;1 PROGRAMMES ABOUT REAL LIFE: Documentaries; News, weather, national events and speeches; Interviews and talkshows; Sports programmes and gameshows; 2 SHOR T SEQUENCES & PROMOTIONS; Non-fiction clips; TV commercials; Music video; PART C: ACTIVITIES WITH AUTHENTIC VIDEO: Video comprehension; Alphabetical bank of activities; Activities classified; Glossary

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Book SynopsisAn urgent and explosive play that explores of the pressures on young people today in the wake of advancing technology. When a naked photograph of Scarlett goes viral, she becomes the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons. But while rumours run wild and everyone forms an opinion, Scarlett just stays silent... With roles for up to twenty-four young female actors (though it can also be performed by a smaller cast), the play is perfect for any schools, youth theatres or drama groups looking to tackle a contemporary subject in a theatrically exciting way. Specially commissioned by Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth and West Yorkshire Playhouse, Evan Placey's play Girls Like That was developed through work with young people from the three theatres and first performed by their youth theatre companies in 2013. It was revived at the Unicorn Theatre, London, in November 2014. Girls Like That was named Best Play for Young Audiences at the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards 2015.Trade Review'Placey's eye-opening, often uncomfortably honest play... deserves to be widely seen by teenage audiences. And by their parents too' * Guardian *'[Tackles] strong, relevant issues... a well-written, immaculately crafted and brave piece of energetic theatre' * A Younger Theatre *'An urgent, powerful and haunting examination... I can see this play becoming a very popular resource for 16+ groups and that will be no bad thing' * National Drama - Drama magazine *

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Book SynopsisDorothy Heathcote MBE was a unique educator whose practice had a vital influence on the international development of Drama in Education. For more than half a century she inspired generations of teachers and educators all over the world by her original and authentic approach to teaching and learning. This new collection of the essential writings of Dorothy Heathcote traces the development of her practice over her long professional life. It combines the most important and influential articles from the first edition with more recent pieces to show the significant development in Heathcote's thinking and practice. The book reveals the increasing complexity of her engagement with Mantle of the Expert as an approach to the curriculum and revisits earlier themes that are central to her work in such pieces as Productive Tension and Internal Coherence. In everything she writes she is concerned with introducing teachers to the power of drama as a means of activating the cuTable of ContentsSection One - Teachers and Teaching Excellence in Teaching, Subject or System, Creativity Section Two – Drama in Practice Introduction, Notes on Drama, Drama and learning, Productive Tensions, Chamber TheatreApproaching Hamlet, Signs and Portents, Notes on Signs and Portents, Meeting Dr. Lister, Conventions in Mantle of the Expert, The Authentic Teacher and the Future, Section Three - Mantle of the Expert IntroductionMantle of the Expert - Key Elements, Contexts for Active learning, Using Stories in Mantle of the Expert, Encounters with Power Givers and Power Takers

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Book SynopsisNewly adapted for the Anglophone reader, this is an excellent translation of Hans-Thies Lehmannâs groundbreaking study of the new theatre forms that have developed since the late 1960s, which has become a key reference point in international discussions of contemporary theatre.In looking at the developments since the late 1960s, Lehmann considers them in relation to dramatic theory and theatre history, as an inventive response to the emergence of new technologies, and as an historical shift from a text-based culture to a new media age of image and sound.Engaging with theoreticians of 'drama' from Aristotle and Brecht, to Barthes and Schechner, the book analyzes the work of recent experimental theatre practitioners such as Robert Wilson, Tadeusz Kantor, Heiner MÃller, the Wooster Group, Needcompany and Societas Raffaello Sanzio. Illustrated by a wealth of practical examples, and with an introduction by Karen JÃrs-Munby providing useful theoretical and arTrade Review'This is a provocative, illuminating and stimulating book that will undoubtedly become as essential a text in English theatre scholarship as it already has in continental Europe.' – Marvin Carlson, Theatre Research International'This groundbreaking study [is] an inventive response to the emergence of new technologies.' - International Theatre Informations'This is an important book, already elbowing its way into the forefront of English-language critical discourse on theatre...' --TDR'This is a provocative, illuminating and stimulating book that will undoubtedly become as essential a text in English theatre scholarship as it already has in continental Europe.' – Marvin Carlson, Theatre Research International'this groundbreaking study [is] an inventive response to the emergence of new technologies' - International Theatre InformationsTable of ContentsPreface to the English Edition 1. Prologue 2. Drama Drama and Theatre Drama and Dialectic 3. Pre-histories Towards a Prehistory of Postdramatic Theatre A Short Look Back at the Historical Avant-gardes 4. Panorama of Postdramatic Theatre Beyond Dramatic Action: Ceremony, Voices in Space, Landscape Postdramatic Theatrical Signs Examples 5. Performance Theatre and Performance The Present of Performance 6. Aspects: Text - Space - Time - Body - Media Text Space Time Body Media 7. Epilogue 8. Afterword Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAn inspiring, practical handbook for anyone working with young people to make devised theatre. Devising theatre is a fundamental element of the Drama curriculum, but managing the process is often demanding, difficult and challenging. It can lead even highly competent Drama teachers to feel disempowered. However, help is at hand, whether you're a novice coping with your first exam season, a non-specialist or a veteran in need of some fresh ideas. Making Theatre provides a framework that will take the stress out of the process, and help your students realise their full potential. Joss Bennathan answers the common questions raised by Drama teachers, such as: What is the best way of grouping my students? How do I manage and monitor several groups rehearsing simultaneously? How do I include the erratic attender without jeopardising the work of the others? What degree of directing and guidance is appropriate? He shows how to build the foundations that underpin devised theatre, and provides ten invaluable structures to meet the needs of different students, regardless of their level of skills. These structures will help you to ensure that your students avoid shallow, clichéd work and demonstrate their understanding of the relationship between style, content and form. There is a diverse range of stimulus material including song lyrics, prose extracts, verbatim testimony and artwork, all reproduced in this book - and also available to download and print. The book includes a range of stand-alone exercises covering key areas, including: Voice and movement Characterisation Communication Scene transitions Narrative economy and clarity Performance conventions Trade Review'Invaluable... clear and practical... a must for your bookshelf' * National Drama - Drama magazine *'A thorough working knowledge of theatre-making with young people, along with a clear understanding of the limitations of working towards an examination, the potential difficulties of managing the work with young people and the pitfalls that may be encountered by any teacher devising for an audience. [Bennathan's] exercises and frameworks should go a long way towards guiding the less experienced teacher through these potential traps and will undoubtedly provide fresh inspiration for those with more experience' * Drama Resource *'A godsend... sound, informed advice, pitched at the right level without being condescending or patronising... I'm so glad this book is now on my shelf. I bet you'll love it too' * Teaching Drama Magazine *

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Book SynopsisWhy does Shakespeare write in the way he does? And how can actors and directors get the most out of his incomparable plays? In Speaking the Speech, Giles Block – ‘Master of the Words’ at Shakespeare’s Globe – sets out to answer these two simple questions. The result is the most authoritative, most comprehensive book yet written on speaking Shakespeare’s words. Throughout the book, the author subjects Shakespeare’s language to rigorous examination, illuminating his extraordinary ability to bring his characters to life by a simple turn of phrase, a breath or even a pause. Block shows how we can only fully understand these characters, and the meaning of the plays, by speaking the words out loud. Drawing on characters from across all of Shakespeare’s plays – and looking in detail at Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing – Block covers everything the actor needs to know, including: the essential distinctions between prose, rhymed verse and unrhymed verse, and the different strategies to be used when speaking them; the difference between ‘you’ and ‘thou’; Shakespeare’s use of silence; and the vital importance of paying attention to Shakespeare’s ‘original’ punctuation. Speaking the Speech is a book for actors and directors who want to improve their understanding of Shakespeare’s language in order to speak it better. It is also a fascinating read for anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of Shakespeare’s language and the way it comes to life when spoken aloud. ‘We call Giles our ‘Text Guru’ at the Globe, partly in jest, and partly out of respect for the depth of his knowledge, the gentleness of his teaching, and the sudden illuminations he can throw across a play. If this book can afford even a small part of the pleasure and insight Giles can provide in person, then it will be a great asset.’ Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director, Shakespeare’s Globe ‘Giles deepened my love for Shakespeare and for the way we all speak. I trust you will have a similar experience reading his book.’ Mark Rylance, from his ForewordTrade Review'The remarkable clarity of this book is born of the author's deep knowledge and experience of Shakespeare's language... Whatever your background and experience of working with Shakespeare, you will find new and refreshing insights here' * National Drama - Drama magazine *'Any student embarking on training, or any actor who wants to know more about Shakespeare's words and how to speak them, will learn a lot from this book' * The Stage *'If you want to know how to do something well, find yourself the best expert in the field and get them to teach you. Giles Block is currently Master of the Words at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and has been since its opening in 1999. ... I will certainly be using [his book] the next time I direct Shakespeare.' * Teaching Drama Magazine *'A fascinating Virgilian tour through the circles of Shakespeare's language... This is a guide providing answers, in a craft demanding the rituals of mystery' * Times Literary Supplement *'Fresh and innovative... a useful and valuable addition to the field of Shakespeare scholarship' * ReviewsGate.com *'A tour de force from a theatrical insider... a handbook that Hamlet might have given to his players' * Ink Pellet magazine *

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Book Synopsis''AN OUTSTANDING DEBUT'' CHERIE JONES, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House''VIVID AND AUTHENTIC'' LEONE ROSS, author of This One Sky DayAt eighteen years old, Dinah gave away her baby son to the rich couple she worked for before they left Jamaica. They never returned. She never forgot him.Eighteen years later, a young man comes from the US to Kingston. From the moment she sees him, Dinah never doubts - this is her son.What happens next will make everyone question what they know and where they belong.A powerful story of belonging, identity and inheritance, What a Mother''s Love Don''t Teach You brings together a blazing chorus of voices to evoke Jamaica''s ghetto, dance halls, criminal underworld and corrupt politics, at the beating heart of which is a mother''s unshakeable love for her son.''TAKES US ON A WONDERFUL MULTIFACETED JOURNEY THORUGH THE LIVES, LOVES, PLEASURES AND ATROCITTrade ReviewA cacophonic, alive, heart-breaking story of a particular place and time, made universal by its truths and wisdom about love. * Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies *Pulses with the colour and cadence of Jamaican culture in a multi-layered story told with empathy and intelligence. It is both an elegy of great elegance and a testament to the resilience and optimism of Jamaican people. Sharma's skilled storytelling drew me into the heads and hearts of the residents of Jacks Hill and Lazarus Gardens and did not let me go. I'll never forget this cast of characters or the voice of this accomplished writer - an outstanding debut. * Cherie Jones, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House *Imagine yourself on your front porch with your neighbour, in the cool of the afternoon when all your housework is done; get yourself a little coconut water and allow Sharma Taylor to tell you about all the goings-on of this neighbourhood of Kingston. Girl, if you see drama! Drama, girl! ! And this being the Caribbean, nobody's going to walk on by when they hear a good story being told, and before you know it, you have the whole cast of characters on the porch with you, everyone clamouring to tell their side of the story - the Jamaican dialogue in this novel is a particular strength. As one of the characters proclaims, about a particularly good spliff: "Is de real stuff, dis, my yute!" Rich and exuberant. * Claire Adam, author of the Desmond Elliot Prize-winning Golden Child *Truth-telling! Taylor's debut is tender, violent and uncompromising in turns. A vivid and authentic Jamaica that tells a tale too often hidden, for fantasies of sun, sea and sand. * Leone Ross, author of This One Sky Day *An arresting first novel. As if to nod to the Jamaican national motto "Out of Many One People," Taylor's novel gives voice to multiple perspectives on how class, race and gender are lived in this "exotic" Caribbean island and at what cost to human relationships. * Lisa Allen-Agostini, author of the Woman's Prize longlisted The Bread the Devil Knead *A sharp polyphonous story in which Taylor skillfully moves the reader through a world pulsing with pain, love, power, violence and tenderness. We are reminded of that tension between where we come from and what we gravitate towards, what steers us and why. An exciting read. * Yewande Omotoso, author of The Woman Next Door *Takes us on a wonderful multifaceted journey through the lives, loves, pleasures and atrocities of the folks of Lazarus Gardens and Jacks Hill. There is an impressive choral quality to What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You, with voices that shift with remarkable ease and seamlessness, between lyricism, humour and rawness. A very impressive achievement. * Jacob Ross, author of The Bone Readers *Warm, wise, unflinching. Taylor's skill with character and voice shines in this immersive story of living and loving under the shadow of betrayal. * Karen Lord, author of Redemption in Indigo *An astonishing book. In riveting, irresistible prose, Sharma Taylor's genre-crossing novel (a love story, a crime story, a yard fiction) tells a tale of Jamaica and America, of class, colour, race, history and the dignity of the dispossessed. The authenticity of its detail produces a searing truth that convicts us. The largeness of its vision challenges our ideas of what it means to be human. * Curdella Forbes, author of A Tall History of Sugar *Sharma Taylor's accomplished debut novel transports the reader from the rarefied air of Kingston's Jacks Hill to the gritty reality of inner city Lazarus Gardens. Told by an unforgettable cast of characters, each speaking searing truths of their own Jamaica, these compelling voices will linger long after the last page. What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You is a fine achievement. * Diana McCaulay, author of Daylight Come *In the opening chapter of What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You, Dinah describes her home, the tenement yard at Lazarus Gardens, as a place where, "is like everyday, the water have to decide if to come inside." In essence, the novel is about just that: choices. Written in alternating voices - sometimes Jamaican patois, sometimes Standard English - Sharma Taylor reveals how and why the choices of the denizens of Lazarus Gardens necessarily differ from the choices of Jamaica's uptown folk. Taylor's great accomplishment is how she captures the darkness of the ghetto while never dimming the vivacity, determination and exuberance displayed by its people. This is a thrilling read. * Celeste Mohammed, author of Pleasantview *This forceful novel offers a collision of pasts and present, mothers and sons and lovers, offered up in language that eloquently highlights our divisions and the (rare) possibilities of true connection. This is a character-led novel where pace is as important as tone and place comes singing off the page. Somehow Taylor has managed to create a work that is polyphony and cacophony and gloriously, simultaneously, symphony. * Stella Duffy, author of Lullaby Beach *Taylor portrays a complex web of Jamaican characters in settings ranging from tenement yards to mansions with an authenticity that radiates throughout the novel. Set in an important time in the island's history, it's a colourful portrayal of a young man searching for his soul, the two mothers desperate to claim him, and the ultimate sacrifice one has to make. A wonderful debut novel. * Gillian Royes. author of the Shad series *Sharma Taylor's live-wire debut is a crackling, earthy and colourful social realist polyphony that brings to life the bullet-strewn Jamaica of the 1980s. * Rob Doyle, author of Threshold *Sharma Taylor writes in extra high definition: colour, language, landscape and atmosphere. But it is her laser-like, yet careful study of the inner thoughts and emotions of her characters that fascinates. An astonishing first novel. * Esther Phillips, Poet Laureate of Barbados *Sharma Taylor's What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You explores essential aspects of Jamaica's Social Psychological Environment which Marlon James's A Brief History of Seven Killings leaves unpainted. In short, these two works could usefully be read together. May Sharma's work meet the kind of success that Marlon's work has. * Erna Brodber, author of Nothing's Mat *Voices are strong, resilient and compelling, right from the start, with sharp, vivid imagery. An ambitious novel about the Caribbean in the eighties, but also well before then and even now. What kind of Jamaica have we made, what may we yet inherit? * Robert Edison Sandiford, author of And Sometimes They Fly *This novel, a page-turner in every way, is skilfully plotted and brilliantly written. Taylor's unforgettable characters, vivid portrayal of human ruthlessness counterpoised with communal solidarity and generosity, and deft use of the Jamaican vernacular are some of the many striking features of this superb novel. * Nigel Thomas, author of Spirits in the Dark *Echoes the dilemma of having to give up home and family to find hope elsewhere. Precious things wagered in pursuit of better might never be regained. Taylor's intimate portrayals of this dissonance is communicated through authentic voices full of universal truth, love and forgiveness. * Roland Watson-Grant, author of Sketcher *A beautifully crafted debut, rich with rhythmic, lyrical patois and surprising revelations * Jacqueline Crooks *I was knocked out by this novel. It's a fantastic, enthralling story of clashing cultures: very funny and then utterly heartbreaking. The vibrant and terrifying world of Kingston in the eighties is totally gripping and the dialogue is so alive that I find it hard to believe it's a first novel * Mick Kitson, author of Sal *Sharma Taylor's debut novel What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You is a brilliant examination of lives in Jamaica. Taylor writes powerfully about those lives, trapped in often distressing social circumstances, with wit and a searingly analytical eye. Always, though, her empathy with the characters comes through, so the reader is ensnared by her artistry and is willing to seek to understand each character, no matter how superficially evil. The true power of the work comes from its thorough grounding in the Jamaican experience, the cascade of similes that enlighten and the descriptions of the physical landscapes. All of these combine to create an impression on the reader that is not only visual but profoundly emotional. An extraordinary first novel * Ronald A. Williams, author of A Death in Panama *Jamaican literature has a future. Her name is Sharma Taylor. * Kei Miller, author of THE CARTOGRAPHER TRIES TO MAP A WAY TO ZION *What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You is both heartbreaking and illuminating . . . Sharma's voice is vital and necessary * Shivanee Ramlochan, award-winning editor and poet, author of Everyone Knows I Am a Haunting (shortlisted in 2018 for the Forward Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection) *As Sharma Taylor's debut proves with fevered intensity, some threads remain unbreakable despite the cruel vicissitudes of fate. Guiding her novel with a tension-laced economy, Taylor offers a prismatic cast of figures swirling around Dinah and her estranged son. In the voices of gang leaders and snake-tongued statesmen, redoubtable matriarchs and kiss-teeth gossips, the multiple worlds of 1980s Jamaica soar to life, vividly and dramatically realised. What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You joins a formidable contemporary canon that refuses to portray the Caribbean as idyllic pastiche. It's a tender triumph * Caribbean Beat *

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Book Synopsis''An outstanding debut'' CHERIE JONES, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House''Vivid and authentic'' LEONE ROSS, author of This One Sky Day''Cacophonic, alive and heartbreaking'' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE, author of The Mercies''A gripping page-turner'' CAMILLE HERNÁNDEZ-RAMDWAR, author of Suite as Sugar and Other StoriesAs featured on BBC''s Cultural Frontline podcast At eighteen years old, Dinah gave away her baby son to the rich couple she worked for before they left Jamaica. They never returned. She never forgot him.Eighteen years later, a young man comes from the US to Kingston. From the moment she sees him, Dinah never doubts - this is her son.What happens next will make everyone question what they know and where they belong.A powerful story of belonging, identity and inheritance, What a Mother''s Love Don''t Teach You bTrade ReviewA cacophonic, alive, heart-breaking story of a particular place and time, made universal by its truths and wisdom about love. * Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies *Pulses with the colour and cadence of Jamaican culture in a multi-layered story told with empathy and intelligence. It is both an elegy of great elegance and a testament to the resilience and optimism of Jamaican people. Sharma's skilled storytelling drew me into the heads and hearts of the residents of Jacks Hill and Lazarus Gardens and did not let me go. I'll never forget this cast of characters or the voice of this accomplished writer - an outstanding debut. * Cherie Jones, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House *Imagine yourself on your front porch with your neighbour, in the cool of the afternoon when all your housework is done; get yourself a little coconut water and allow Sharma Taylor to tell you about all the goings-on of this neighbourhood of Kingston. Girl, if you see drama! Drama, girl! ! And this being the Caribbean, nobody's going to walk on by when they hear a good story being told, and before you know it, you have the whole cast of characters on the porch with you, everyone clamouring to tell their side of the story - the Jamaican dialogue in this novel is a particular strength. As one of the characters proclaims, about a particularly good spliff: "Is de real stuff, dis, my yute!" Rich and exuberant. * Claire Adam, author of the Desmond Elliot Prize-winning Golden Child *Truth-telling! Taylor's debut is tender, violent and uncompromising in turns. A vivid and authentic Jamaica that tells a tale too often hidden, for fantasies of sun, sea and sand. * Leone Ross, author of This One Sky Day *An arresting first novel. As if to nod to the Jamaican national motto "Out of Many One People," Taylor's novel gives voice to multiple perspectives on how class, race and gender are lived in this "exotic" Caribbean island and at what cost to human relationships. * Lisa Allen-Agostini, author of the Woman's Prize longlisted The Bread the Devil Knead *A sharp polyphonous story in which Taylor skillfully moves the reader through a world pulsing with pain, love, power, violence and tenderness. We are reminded of that tension between where we come from and what we gravitate towards, what steers us and why. An exciting read. * Yewande Omotoso, author of The Woman Next Door *Takes us on a wonderful multifaceted journey through the lives, loves, pleasures and atrocities of the folks of Lazarus Gardens and Jacks Hill. There is an impressive choral quality to What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You, with voices that shift with remarkable ease and seamlessness, between lyricism, humour and rawness. A very impressive achievement. * Jacob Ross, author of The Bone Readers *Warm, wise, unflinching. Taylor's skill with character and voice shines in this immersive story of living and loving under the shadow of betrayal. * Karen Lord, author of Redemption in Indigo *An astonishing book. In riveting, irresistible prose, Sharma Taylor's genre-crossing novel (a love story, a crime story, a yard fiction) tells a tale of Jamaica and America, of class, colour, race, history and the dignity of the dispossessed. The authenticity of its detail produces a searing truth that convicts us. The largeness of its vision challenges our ideas of what it means to be human. * Curdella Forbes, author of A Tall History of Sugar *Sharma Taylor's accomplished debut novel transports the reader from the rarefied air of Kingston's Jacks Hill to the gritty reality of inner city Lazarus Gardens. Told by an unforgettable cast of characters, each speaking searing truths of their own Jamaica, these compelling voices will linger long after the last page. What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You is a fine achievement. * Diana McCaulay, author of Daylight Come *In the opening chapter of What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You, Dinah describes her home, the tenement yard at Lazarus Gardens, as a place where, "is like everyday, the water have to decide if to come inside." In essence, the novel is about just that: choices. Written in alternating voices - sometimes Jamaican patois, sometimes Standard English - Sharma Taylor reveals how and why the choices of the denizens of Lazarus Gardens necessarily differ from the choices of Jamaica's uptown folk. Taylor's great accomplishment is how she captures the darkness of the ghetto while never dimming the vivacity, determination and exuberance displayed by its people. This is a thrilling read. * Celeste Mohammed, author of Pleasantview *This forceful novel offers a collision of pasts and present, mothers and sons and lovers, offered up in language that eloquently highlights our divisions and the (rare) possibilities of true connection. This is a character-led novel where pace is as important as tone and place comes singing off the page. Somehow Taylor has managed to create a work that is polyphony and cacophony and gloriously, simultaneously, symphony. * Stella Duffy, author of Lullaby Beach *Taylor portrays a complex web of Jamaican characters in settings ranging from tenement yards to mansions with an authenticity that radiates throughout the novel. Set in an important time in the island's history, it's a colourful portrayal of a young man searching for his soul, the two mothers desperate to claim him, and the ultimate sacrifice one has to make. A wonderful debut novel. * Gillian Royes. author of the Shad series *Sharma Taylor's live-wire debut is a crackling, earthy and colourful social realist polyphony that brings to life the bullet-strewn Jamaica of the 1980s. * Rob Doyle, author of Threshold *Sharma Taylor writes in extra high definition: colour, language, landscape and atmosphere. But it is her laser-like, yet careful study of the inner thoughts and emotions of her characters that fascinates. An astonishing first novel. * Esther Phillips, Poet Laureate of Barbados *Sharma Taylor's What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You explores essential aspects of Jamaica's Social Psychological Environment which Marlon James's A Brief History of Seven Killings leaves unpainted. In short, these two works could usefully be read together. May Sharma's work meet the kind of success that Marlon's work has. * Erna Brodber, author of Nothing's Mat *Voices are strong, resilient and compelling, right from the start, with sharp, vivid imagery. An ambitious novel about the Caribbean in the eighties, but also well before then and even now. What kind of Jamaica have we made, what may we yet inherit? * Robert Edison Sandiford, author of And Sometimes They Fly *This novel, a page-turner in every way, is skilfully plotted and brilliantly written. Taylor's unforgettable characters, vivid portrayal of human ruthlessness counterpoised with communal solidarity and generosity, and deft use of the Jamaican vernacular are some of the many striking features of this superb novel. * Nigel Thomas, author of Spirits in the Dark *Echoes the dilemma of having to give up home and family to find hope elsewhere. Precious things wagered in pursuit of better might never be regained. Taylor's intimate portrayals of this dissonance is communicated through authentic voices full of universal truth, love and forgiveness. * Roland Watson-Grant, author of Sketcher *A beautifully crafted debut, rich with rhythmic, lyrical patois and surprising revelations * Jacqueline Crooks *I was knocked out by this novel. It's a fantastic, enthralling story of clashing cultures: very funny and then utterly heartbreaking. The vibrant and terrifying world of Kingston in the eighties is totally gripping and the dialogue is so alive that I find it hard to believe it's a first novel * Mick Kitson, author of Sal *Sharma Taylor's debut novel What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You is a brilliant examination of lives in Jamaica. Taylor writes powerfully about those lives, trapped in often distressing social circumstances, with wit and a searingly analytical eye. Always, though, her empathy with the characters comes through, so the reader is ensnared by her artistry and is willing to seek to understand each character, no matter how superficially evil. The true power of the work comes from its thorough grounding in the Jamaican experience, the cascade of similes that enlighten and the descriptions of the physical landscapes. All of these combine to create an impression on the reader that is not only visual but profoundly emotional. An extraordinary first novel * Ronald A. Williams, author of A Death in Panama *Jamaican literature has a future. Her name is Sharma Taylor. * Kei Miller, author of THE CARTOGRAPHER TRIES TO MAP A WAY TO ZION *What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You is both heartbreaking and illuminating . . . Sharma's voice is vital and necessary * Shivanee Ramlochan, award-winning editor and poet, author of Everyone Knows I Am a Haunting (shortlisted in 2018 for the Forward Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection) *As Sharma Taylor's debut proves with fevered intensity, some threads remain unbreakable despite the cruel vicissitudes of fate. Guiding her novel with a tension-laced economy, Taylor offers a prismatic cast of figures swirling around Dinah and her estranged son. In the voices of gang leaders and snake-tongued statesmen, redoubtable matriarchs and kiss-teeth gossips, the multiple worlds of 1980s Jamaica soar to life, vividly and dramatically realised. What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You joins a formidable contemporary canon that refuses to portray the Caribbean as idyllic pastiche. It's a tender triumph * Caribbean Beat *

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