By Love Possessed

Collection of Short Fiction

With this highly praised collection of short fiction, Lorna Goodison demonstrates why she may be one of literature's best-kept secrets.

Title Story

In the Pushcart Prize-winning title story, humble Dottie thinks her luck has turned when she meets Frenchie, the best-looking, if not most reliable, man in the whole of Jamaica.

The Helpweight

In The Helpweight, an accomplished woman must bear the burden of an old flame's renewed affections when he returns from a life abroad with his Irish bride in tow.

Henry

And in Henry, a young boy turned out of his house to make way for his mother's lover sells roses on the street to survive. On a whim, he bites off a bloom, which he can feel burning inside his mouth like a red pepper light, hoping it will take root and beautify his own life.

Poetically rendered, these and over a dozen other evocative stories create a world in which pride can nourish a soul or be its ruin and where people are in turn uplifted and undone by love.