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Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson

A coming-of-age celebration of food, family and finding your voice, for fans of The Girl with the Louding Voice.

Penguin Michael Joseph is offering copies to book clubs to read and review.

More about the book

Fourteen-year-old Pumkin Patterson lives in a two-room house in Kingston Jamaica with her devoted grandmother, her beloved Aunt Sophie, and a mother who could not care less about her. When her conniving estranged father shows up Pumkin’s only real escape is baking – while making sweet potato pudding and apple turnovers she can forget the fighting at home.

When Aunt Sophie is offered the chance to move to France, she promises to send for Pumkin as soon as she can afford to. But when things take a turn for the worse in Pumkin’s household, she’s determined to raise the money herself. Her mother is determined to make her stay, but will her friends, neighbours and talent for baking be her escape?

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