This groundbreaking anthology represents the critical inquiry of literary scholars into the trope of loss and mourning in the work of women writers from the Caribbean archipelago. There is a great deal of recent scholarly interest in the relationship of loss and mourning yet there are no books specifically devoted to an examination of this trope in the works of Caribbean women writers. To fill this gap, this collection of original essays examines subjects that encompass the brutality of slavery, oppressive dictatorships, AIDS, and the catastrophe of the Mount Pele volcano that appear in the writings of women from the English, Spanish and French speaking Caribbean. It is an important addition to the contemporary discourse on loss and mourning. The project is an exciting and vital one because it brings together a multiplicity of perspectives and critical approaches to examine the works of writers such as Jean Rhys, Jamaica Kincaid, Julia Alvarez and Maryse Condé. What emerges is a complex portrait of loss, mourning and remembrance that both enriches and challenges customary discourses of loss, mourning and melancholia.

The first book to focus on Black women and depression, through the author’s “absorbing and inspirational” (Washington Post) personal journey. When Nana-Ama Danquah, a twenty-two-year-old single mother, began to suffer from a variety of depressive symptoms after giving birth to her daughter, she thought she was going crazy. Determined to portray strength in a world that often undervalues Black women’s lives, she shrouded her debilitating despair in silence and denial. But when she befriends other Black women who suffer with depression, she finds the support she needs to confront the traumatic childhood events that lie beneath her grief. Twenty-five years after its initial publication, as best-selling author Andrew Solomon writes in an illuminating foreword, Willow Weep for Me “remains a brave book . . . but at the time of its writing it was humblingly audacious.” Also including an afterword from the author, this groundbreaking classic is a powerful meditation on courage and a litany for survival. “An important and moving memoir. [Danquah] describes beautifully her experiences with depression.” —Kay Redfield Jamison, author of An Unquiet Mind