If I Survive You
First edition cover
AuthorJonathan Escoffery
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreLiterary fiction,[1] historical fiction[2]
PublisherMCD Books[1]
Publication date
September 6, 2022[1]
Pages272[1]
ISBN978-0-374-60598-8
OCLC1289250366

If I Survive You is the debut book by Jonathan Escoffery, published on September 6, 2022. It is a collection of eight interlinked short stories that follow the struggles of an immigrant family from Jamaica who build a new home in Miami. The story's main character is Trelawny, an American-born son of immigrants who grapples with identity, familial and cultural issues through various phases of adolescence and adulthood.

The book was released to wide acclaim, with reviewers praising Escoffery's narrative style, technical skill, and use of humor. It was shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, and was a finalist or longlisted for three other awards.

Plot

The story follows a Jamaican immigrant family that moves to Miami in the 1970s. It is told through eight connected short stories.

The main character is Trelawny, the young son of Topper and Sanya; they moved to Miami in the 1970s in search of stability after political violence erupted in their hometown of Kingston, Jamaica. The parents struggle to build a home and find meaning in their new circumstances, faced with long-standing systemic inequities in America, and a feeling of living outside the mainstream. They deal with the havoc of Hurricane Andrew, economic uncertainty and a disconnect from their two sons, Trelawny and Delano, both who face their own struggles with identity. Much of the book is delivered from Trelawny's perspective, with stories following his coming of age, his turbulent relationship with his father, as well as his struggle to belong in any one place and with any one community.

Growing up, Trelawny does not feel accepted by his family or with peers, caught between the cultural pressures imposed by his family and the draw of fitting in with American ideals. His identity and allegiances are regularly questioned because, as the book depicts, these are typically determined around racial lines in America. Trelawny feels pressure to live up to his Jamaican roots at times while being drawn by America's promises of opportunity and individualism. Trelawny perceives his brother Delano, as preferred by his father. This is especially true following a rift between his parents that leads to their separation, and him living with his mother, while his father agrees to custody of Delano.

Nonetheless, Trelawny survives the pains of adolescence and decides to pursue college in the Midwest. Here, he faces an alternate view of his race. He is decidedly perceived as Black in the predominantly white Midwestern college he chooses. Any ambiguity around his race which he faced in Miami, a city of many backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures is gone. At first, he takes comfort in this different space, but begins to miss Miami and moves back with hopes of building a life. Jobless, he seeks help from his father. But after a violent fight between them, he finds himself homeless. He begins to take on odd gigs, answering off-beat Craigslist ads, and eventually landing himself a job at a building management office of a Miami Beach apartment complex. His main responsibility becomes badgering financially distressed tenants to pay rent.

Meanwhile, his brother Delano's luck deteriorates. The contracting business he runs goes under and his wife takes his two sons and leaves for another state. Trelawny eventually moves in with his brother to their childhood home, which Delano rents from their father. Their relationship remains competitive and tense, leading to a battle to buy their father's house. Underlying every struggle in the book is a will to survive, and, ultimately, hope.

Release

If I Survive You was published by MCD Books in both hardback and paperback, with both being 272 pages long.[3][4] Variously described as being a novel, short-story collection, or even autobiographical,[5] it was released to the public on September 6, 2022.[6] Macmillan Audio simultaneously released an audiobook edition produced by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and narrated by Torian Brackett.[7] Its quality was commended by AudioFile Magazine, which gave it their Earphones Award.[8]

Reception

If I Survive You was released to wide acclaim. The review aggregator Book Marks gave it their highest "rave" rating based on 18 reviews, all of which they assessed as being positive or better.[9] The book's reviewers particularly praised the author's narrative style, technical skill, and use of humor.[10]

In a universally positive review, Katy Waldman at The New Yorker said that Escoffery's "fiction is marked by ingenuity [...] The book feels thrillingly free". Waldman called out Escoffery's adept sense of humor, often expressed in what she called the "comedy of infighting", and applauded his portrayal of "the disorienting effects of race as they fall".[11] NPR's Maureen Corrigan felt that the ending of one of the short stories, "Splashdown", and its sink or swim spirit favorably compared to the classic novel Moby-Dick. She also highlighted Escoffery's writing about the effects of race in the United States, whether due to explicit racism, the effects of the Great Recession, or in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.[12]

Michael Ferry at BookTrib lauded Escoffery's technical skill, noting that his perspective shifts between first, second, and third person, along with his tense shifts between past, present, and future, could have been distracting if done by a "less-skilled writer". Instead, Ferry continued, "Escoffery uses each transition with purpose. The reader is given a multitude of angles and distances from which to view each character and their environment. A strong connection is created with the subject, conflict and emotion become more intense, and the setting gains additional layers of texture."[13] The Guardian's reviewer Ian Williams agreed, and praised the unusual use of second person to cement the "estrangement Trelawny feels from himself" and for the sense of empathy it fostered between the reader and main character. Williams additionally highlighted Escoffery's "interracial sensitivity", writing that his "courage to move beyond the politeness that silences meaningful conversations on race" brought on moments where Williams "wanted to snap my fingers, like at a poetry slam."[5]

In a measured article for The New York Times Book Review, Andrew Martin also applauded Escoffery's "disarming" and "irreverent" humor, along with his ability to make him empathize with the main characters. However, Martin critiqued Escoffery's pacing, saying that he "wished at times that I was caught more forcefully in a current of narrative momentum with them", and added that parts of the book felt "less than convincing".[14]

In a starred review, Kirkus succinctly called If I Survive You "a fine debut that looks at the complexities of cultural identity with humor, savvy, and a rich sense of place."[6] The Financial Times' Suzi Feay wrote that If I Survive You was "jaunty, irrepressible and full of energy even in moments of horror. A fine achievement."[15]

Awards and honors

Time and The New York Times Book Review included If I Survive You in their 100 top books of 2022.[16][17] Booklist listed it as a 2022 "Booklist Editors' Choice" for adult books,[18] as well as their 2023 list of the best historical fiction books by debut authors.[2]

If I Survive You was one of six shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize,[19][20] having made the cut from a thirteen-strong longlist.[21] Escoffery made the short list alongside another author's debut novel, Chetna Maroo's Western Lane.[22]

The Booker Prize judges called If I Survive You "an astonishingly assured debut novel, lauded by the panel for its clarity, variety and fizzing prose. As the stories move back and forth through geography and time, we are confronted by the immigrants' eternal questions: who am I now and where do I belong?"[23]

Awards for If I Survive You
Year Award Result
2022 John Leonard Prize Finalist[24][25]
2022 National Book Award for Fiction Longlist[26][27]
2023 Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlist[28][29]
2023 Booker Prize Shortlist[30][31]
2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Finalist[32]
2023 Southern Book Prize Finalist[33]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "If I Survive You [Book]". Macmillan Publishers. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Seaman, Donna (May 15, 2023). "Top 10 Historical Fiction Debuts: 2023". Booklist. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  3. ↑ "If I Survive You". Publisher's Weekly. May 17, 2022. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Books: If I Survive You". MCD Books. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Williams, Ian (February 2, 2023). "If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery review – dazzling debut of racial identity". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 21, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  6. 1 2 "If I Survive You". Kirkus Reviews. July 1, 2022. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  7. ↑ "If I Survive You [Audiobook]". Macmillan Publishers. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  8. ↑ "If I Survive You". AudioFile Magazine. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  9. ↑ "If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery". Book Marks. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  10. ↑ "All Book Marks reviews for If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery". Book Marks. Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  11. ↑ Waldman, Katy (August 29, 2022). "Jonathan Escoffery's Surprising Stories of Desperation". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  12. ↑ Corrigan, Maureen (September 9, 2022). "'If I Survive You' is a sweeping portrait of a family's fight to make it in America". NPR. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  13. ↑ Ferry, Michael (September 30, 2022). "Familial and Systemic Struggle in Story of Ultimate Survival". BookTrib. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  14. ↑ Martin, Andrew (September 4, 2022). "From Jamaican to Miamian, and All the Identities in Between". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  15. ↑ Feay, Suzi (August 14, 2023). "If I Survive You — race and precarity in contemporary America". Financial Times. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  16. ↑ "'If I Survive You' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2022". Time. November 14, 2022. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  17. ↑ "100 Notable Books of 2022". The New York Times. November 22, 2022. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books, 2022". Booklist. December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  19. ↑ Nguyen, Sophia (September 21, 2023). "Here are the 6 finalists for the 2023 Booker Prize". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  20. ↑ Anderson, Porter (September 21, 2023). "In England: The Booker Prize for Fiction Names Its 2023 Shortlist". Publishing Perspectives. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  21. ↑ Nguyen, Sophia (August 1, 2023). "2023 Booker longlist includes 'If I Survive You' and 'This Other Eden'". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  22. ↑ Marshall, Alex (September 21, 2023). "Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects the 'Unease of Our Moment'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  23. ↑ "If I Survive You". The Booker Prizes. February 2, 2023. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  24. ↑ Valdez, Jonah (February 1, 2023). "Here are the finalists for the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Awards". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  25. ↑ Stewart, Sophia (January 31, 2023). "2023 National Book Critics Circle Awards Finalists Announced". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  26. ↑ "The 2022 National Book Awards Longlist: Fiction". The New Yorker. September 16, 2022. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  27. ↑ Stewart, Sophia (September 16, 2022). "2022 National Book Award Longlists Announced". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  28. ↑ Schaub, Michael (December 12, 2022). "Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlist Is Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  29. ↑ Anderson, Porter (December 12, 2022). "The $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize Names Its 2023 Longlist". Publishing Perspectives. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  30. ↑ Nawotka, Ed (September 21, 2023). "2023 Booker Prize Shortlist Announced". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  31. ↑ Wolberg, Sarah (September 22, 2023). "Booker Prize Shortlist Is Announced". Library Journal. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  32. ↑ "Awards: PEN/Faulkner Fiction, Aspen Words Finalists". Shelf Awareness. March 8, 2023. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  33. ↑ "Awards: Writers' Trust of Canada Winners; SIBA Southern Book Finalists". Shelf Awareness. November 4, 2022. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2023.

Further reading

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