The True History of Paradise
By Margaret Cezair-Thompson
Dutton, $24.95
ISBN 0525944907

For the reader whose memories of a tranquil Jamaican vacation include sipping tropical cocktails poolside at a posh resort, The True History of Paradise serves up a cold shot of Caribbean reality. Indeed, Margaret Cezair-Thompson's enchanting debut novel is unlikely to reap any kudos from the folks at the Jamaica Tourism Bureau. Instead, this history-drenched work of fiction is certain to win Cezair-Thompson a loyal contingent of readers who are mesmerized by an island imbued with the imprimatur of both heaven and hell.

Jean Darling, the book's tormented narrator, is tangled in the roots of her 500-year-old Jamaican family tree. Jean's identity crisis is not merely the angst of an upper-class young woman with too much time on her hands, but a dilemma stemming from her ancestry. Jean's bloodline can be traced to countries scattered across the globe, including Africa, Spain, England, and China. Thus her loyalties during an era of revolution in the late 1970s and early 1980s are never simply a matter of black and white.

Juxtaposed against a backdrop of seething violence and unrest, The True History of Paradise provides the reader with a snapshot of race relations within a loving -- albeit fatally flawed -- Jamaican family. Peppered with references to Rastafarians and reggae, musician Bob Marley and political leader Michael Manley, and seasoned with Jamaican dialect, this novel also holds a delightful surprise. Tucked inside the main story line is an array of historic vignettes breathing life into Jean's family history. Reminiscent of passages from dusty diaries, the anecdotes offer a glimpse of Jamaica from the 1400s through 1981.

Still, the island's lush history is just a counterpoint to the tragedy that fuels Jean's soul-searching -- the suicide of her beloved older sister Lana. Despite the violence that forces the family to live in a veritable cage -- an iron veranda guarding their home in a suffocating embrace -- Lana's death proves far more traumatizing than the fear of becoming the next victims of the robbery, rapes, and murders plaguing the country. Numbed by her sister's death, Jean is intent upon escaping her magical but malevolent homeland with hopes of finding a safe haven in America. Yet her cross-country car ride to the plane which will carry her away from the violence threatening to make Jamaica a paradise lost is a bittersweet journey.

A Jamaica native and Assistant Professor of English at Wellesley College, Cezair-Thompson undoubtedly brings an impressive degree of life experience and family history to her fiction. For her heroine Jean, stepping into the simultaneous roles of emigrant and immigrant is a daunting but necessary challenge. Above all, The True History of Paradise is an eloquent tale suggesting that the blood of our ancestors which courses through our veins cannot, and should not, be ignored.

Karen Ann Cullotta is a journalist in Chicago.