River Mumma: A Breathtaking Fantasy Novel Brimming with Magical Realism

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4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
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Product Details
Price
$27.00  $25.11
Publisher
Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publish Date
Pages
304
Dimensions
5.67 X 8.11 X 1.18 inches | 0.8 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781645661351

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About the Author
Zalika Reid-Benta is a Toronto-based writer whose debut story collection, Frying Plantain, won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction. Frying Plantain was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and it was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award, the White Pine Award, and the Trillium Book Award. Zalika served as the 2021-2022 Writer in Residence at Western University and was the chair of the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize. She received an M.F.A. in fiction from Columbia University, was a John Gardner Fiction Fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and is an alumnus of the Banff Centre Writing Studio.
Reviews
★ "Stunning debut. . . that marks the emergence of a powerful new voice." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "A race-against-the-clock page-turner with friendship and diasporic community building at its heart, this book is a winner." --Booklist, starred review

"This is a splendid story about ancestry, identity, and creativity." --Apple Books Review

"River Mumma is a propulsive read filled with captivating characters, page-­turning mystery, and a thoughtful examination of kinship and ancestral ties." --Toronto Life

". . . Reid-Benta writes powerfully of the diasporic experience, the connections between family history and community, and the role and importance of lore and mythic history." --Toronto Star

"River Mumma is a blessing and Zalika Reid-Benta's talent is a truly special gift. This is a quest novel that maps Jamaican folklore across modern-day Toronto; three young people are sent on a mission by a goddess and if that doesn't pique your interest then something is very wrong with you." --Victor LaValle, award-winning author of The Changeling

"Wholly original, remarkably crafted, and unmatched in voice, atmosphere, and action, River Mumma should be on every must-read list this season." --Cherie Dimaline, bestselling author of Empire of Wild

"River Mumma is the type of vivid, rich novel I love best. It left me turning pages and pondering possibilities well into the night." --Alicia Elliott, bestselling author of A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

"A generational saga, a big-city survival narrative, a study of diasporic cultural nuances, all wrapped inside a thrilling adventure. Complex, deep and resonant, River Mumma is coming for your heart." --Samit Basu, author of The City Inside

"River Mumma is a love letter to culture, home, and coming of age--and will spark important, relevant book club conversations, too." --Marissa Stapley, New York Times bestselling author of Lucky

"A fast-paced and absorbing adventure steeped in Caribbean folklore and mythology, River Mumma is a treat for the senses." --Uzma Jalaluddin, bestselling author of Ayesha at Last

"River Mumma is a necessary book about race, gender, ancestry, colonialism, eco-existentialism, and desire." --Jenny Heijun Wills, author of Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related

"A page-turner of a novel that is both funny and poignant, River Mumma magically and seamlessly weaves Jamaican folklore and myth with the winter landscape of Toronto to create a compelling fictional landscape." --Shyam Selvadurai, author of Mansions of the Moon

"A powerful and evocative novel weaving threads of magical realism to create a powerful and moving tale about a search for identity. It is a journey-diasporic, ancestral, cultural, and personal-all coming together by the importance of storytelling by a master storyteller." --Maurice Broaddus, award-nominated author of Sweep of Stars