Posted on June 28, 2021 at 8:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Here’s a role-reversal: rather than the child following in a famous parent’s footsteps, it’s the parent who is taking up the child’s craft. 

Yvonne Bailey-Smith’s three children — Zadie, Ben, and Luc — are all wordsmiths in different mediums.

Now, the former psychotherapist and former social worker can also call herself a writer, with her debut novel, The Day I Fell Off My Island, having been released June 10.

The novel is a coming-of-age story that borrows elements from Bailey-Smith’s own life.

Like The Day I Fell Off My Island's heroine, Erna, Bailey-Smith left her grandparents’ home in Jamaica as a young teen to reunite with her mother and siblings in England, where they’d moved years before.

Reviewers are praising it on its own merit, with the Irish Times naming it as one of its Books to Watch Out For in 2021 and award-winning author Candice Carty-Williams calling it “striking” in its blurb.

To see what Bailey-Smith said about the experiences that inspired The Day I Fell Off My Island and what it’s like to have artistic children like hers — along with some commentary on the novel from the interviewer — head to the Guardian.

Categories: Author Interview

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