The Angels' Share

"The novel avoids the maudlin of some coming-of-age stories, and the magnetic descriptions of the father-and-son conversations and encounters and the Jamaican landscape add to the narrative. . . . Like Marcus J. Guillory's Red, Now, and Laters, this book will appeal to lovers of Caribbean fiction, but all readers of relationship novels are sure to enjoy." --Library Journal, Starred Review

"Ellis writes with an easy grace, and his novel should find favor with readers who are interested in exploring world fiction." --Booklist

Everton Dorril, a rising star at a Jamaican beverage company, immediately fears the worst when his stepmother calls one morning to tell him his father is missing. Everton soon discovers that his father has run off to track down a woman he has been in love with for thirty-five years. An "outside" child born to his father's mistress, Everton deeply resents his father and hates the idea of jeopardizing the most important moment in his career to go find him, but feels he has no other choice.

His father's stubborn refusal to return home leads Everton to reluctantly give up a week of work--one week only--to join him on his quest. By the fourth day, Everton is fed up with his father's lies and excuses. In spite of his better judgment, and worried his father might be dying, Everton finally confronts him one drunken night and airs his resentments. He discovers that his father, frightened and unhappy with the failings of his past, is seeking closure and reconciliation. Fearing this is his last chance to find out more about the father who had no time for him when he was growing up, Everton and his father set out on an adventurous quest across Jamaica, hoping to make up for lost time.

About the Author
Garfield Ellis grew up in Jamaica. He studied marine engineering, management, and public relations in Jamaica and completed his MFA at the University of Miami, as a James Michener Fellow. He is the author of five published books: Flaming Hearts, Wake Rasta, Such As I Have, For Nothing at All, and Till I'm Laid to Rest. His work has appeared in several international journals, including Callaloo, Calabash, the Caribbean Writer, Obsidian III, Anthurium, and Small Axe. Ellis has won the Una Marson Prize for Adult Literature for his collection Flaming Hearts (1997), and later for Till I'm Laid To Rest (2000). He also won the Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for Short Fiction in 2000 and 2005, and the 1990 Heinemann/Lifestyle Short Story Competition.