How To Say Babylon

Cheaper in another edition — £9.89 at LoveReading How to Say Babylon · See that edition →

'Dazzling. Potent. Vital' TARA WESTOVER 'To read it is to believe that words can save' MARLON JAMES 'I adored this book ... Unforgettable, heartbreaking and heartwarming' ELIF SHAFAK 'A breathless, scorching memoir of a girlhood' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW An extraordinary and inspiring memoir of family, education and resilience, from award-winning poet Safiya Sinclair. There was more than one way to be lost, more than one way to be saved. Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where luxury hotels line pristine white sand beaches, Safiya Sinclair grew up guarding herself against an ever-present threat. Her father, a volatile reggae musician and strict believer in a militant sect of Rastafari, railed against Babylon, the corrupting influence of the immoral Western world just beyond their gate. To protect the purity of the women in their family he forbade almost everything: nowhere but home and school, no friends but this family and no future but this path. Her mother did what she could to bring joy to her children with books and poetry. But as Safiya's imagination reached beyond its restrictive borders, her burgeoning independence brought with it ever greater clashes with her father. Soon…

The cheapest new copy of How To Say Babylon is €21.66 at Mondadori Store. Prices checked 14 Nov 2026

Other editions

More by Safiya Sinclair

More by Safiya Sinclair