This episode features our conversation with Donna Hemans, which was live streamed on Saturday, February 17, 2024. We chatted about her recently released novel, The House of Plain Truth, and her writing career.

Donna Hemans is the author of three novels, River Woman, Tea by the Sea, and The House of Plain Truth. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Slice, Electric Literature, Ms. Magazine, The Rumpus, Crab Orchard Review, among others. She received her undergraduate degree in English and Media Studies from Fordham University and an MFA from American University. She lives in Maryland, and is also the owner of DC Writers Room, a co-working studio for writers based in Washington, D.C.

Central to our conversation was Donna’s recently released novel, The House of Plain Truth (Zibby Books, 2024). The House of Plain Truth is a lyrical, lush, evocative story about a fractured Jamaican family and a daughter determined to reclaim her home.

When Pearline receives grave news about her ailing father, she abruptly leaves Brooklyn for her childhood home in Jamaica. But Pearline isn’t prepared for a tense reunion with her sisters or for her father’s startling deathbed wish that she repair their long-broken family legacy and find the sister and two brothers no one has seen in more than 50 years.

Moving through time and place, from modern-day Brooklyn and Montego Bay to 1930s Havana and back again, The House of Plain Truth is a journey through generational secrets and a family coming to terms with its past.

Inspired by the author's own history, this soulful novel explores a fascinating story of immigration, divided loyalties, and what one woman must sacrifice in her attempt to find home.

To learn more about Donna and her expansive body of work, please visit donnahemans.com.

Find Donna on Instagram: @donna_hemans

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