Sufferah: The Memoir of a Brixton Reggae-Head

As a child, award-winning novelist Wheatle (Brixton Rock) was abandoned by his Jamaican immigrant parents and turned over to the British government. Wheatle’s memoir of growing up in Brixton, England, shares his story of abuse and racism in the British foster care system, his incarceration after participating in the 1981 Brixton uprising against racial injustice, and his search for family and purpose. Through everything, he found refuge from the biggest names in reggae music. With more than 40 short chapters, the book brings readers along as artists such as Bob Marley, Sister Nancy, Dennis Brown, and others educate a young Black man about racial injustice and provide a lifeline when he felt at his lowest. Wheatle also finds family in his prison cellmate, who guides him towards a greater purpose, and he turns his life around using the music he loves and by tapping into his writing skills. The inspiration for Wheatle’s fiction is apparent throughout his memoir, where he vividly and gracefully connects his own experiences to those of his characters.