The Pagoda

Set in turn-of-the-century Jamaica, this brilliantly original and exotic tale explores hidden identity in the tradition of Edwidge Danticat

Quarterly Black Review - Wendy Sealy

In The Pagoda, Ms. Powell vigorously engages Jamaica's then socioeconomic climate by portraying a figure who gets caught in the cross fires of a feuding Asian and African population. It is this tension which Ms. Powell skillfully dramatizes throughout her narration of Lowe's difficult life.

Patricia Powell was born in Jamaica in 1966. She received her B.A. from Wellesley College  and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Brown University. She is Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in Fiction at Harvard University. The Pagoda is her third novel.