Title: Jimmy's New Life
Author: Earl Thompson
Publisher: Writers Club Press
Reviewer: Barbara Nelson

Jimmy's New Life is a fairly interesting story about a young Jamaican boy who gets the opportunity to migrate to Canada to meet the mother he did not know.

After growing up in relative poverty with the maternal grandmother in Wood Hall, a rural district in central Jamaica, 13-year-old Jimmy travels by plane from Kingston to Lester B Pearson International Airport and then on to Agincourt in Canada. On the way, he gets acquainted with a pleasant girl, Pamela.

Sleeping on the floor

In Canada, Jimmy meets his mother Gem; her husband, Joe, and their two daughters, Sandra and Melissa. They live in a well-appointed three-bedroom apartment. So, when his mother shows him a small mattress that he must place on the floor to sleep, he realises that he is not considered part of 'the family'. It is just the start of some very unpleasant experiences in his life.

His mother's attitude towards him and the open hostility and bitterness she displays is a puzzle to the boy. Little does he know that she hates him because many years ago she lost the love of her life, the man, Gary Morgan, his father, when she became pregnant with him.

Gem is prone to violent vocal and physical outbursts. In her disturbed state of mind, she goes from smoking marijuana, to using crack. Meanwhile, she pursues every lead she can to find Gary who at 40 years of age is still a carefree bachelor, lives in Canada and thrives on the attention of women many of whom are caucasian.

Finally, Gem finds Gary and gives in to what she believes is the only plan that will bring him back to her.

The plan meant killing her son Jimmy, the person she felt was the source of her unhappiness and emotional pain.

The plot of the story is fairly simple and uncomplicated. There are some other characters who add colour and interest to the main ones - Vivienne, for example, Gem's friend who provides help and shelter for Jimmy when his mother abuses him and throws him out of her house; Gem's estranged husband, Joe; Clifton Rockwell, Gem's boyfriend and Christine, Pamela's friends.

Poor grammar, spelling

The story, however, is marred by very poor grammar, spelling, capitalisation and punctuation throughout the entire book.

Some examples of the numerous errors are:

Cruel kids in the school would sometimes teased him.

... all the money he had accumulated and more were needed to pay the doctor.

Jimmy did ask his mother but blenched from the look on her face.

... he spent a few more days in his house on a worn Mattress ...

... Mrs Johnson was so Heart broken that she migrated to Jamaica.

She was employed at Wood Hall all age.

I have never been to England but I was told it is damped most of the times.

She would normally left her boot at the door.

"Things cant be as bad as you make it seems ..."

He heard a bullet whizzed past his head.

Jimmy's New Life is 258 pages long. The author, Earl Thompson was inspired by Jamaican writers Louise Bennett and Claude McKay.