The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and other Essential Ghosts
a novel by Soraya Palmer
“Mothers never die. Children love to resurrect us in they stories.”
Folktales and spirits animate this lively and unforgettable coming-of-age tale of two Jamaican-Trinidadian sisters in Brooklyn grappling with their mother’s illness, their father's infidelity, and the truth of their family's past…
This is a book written with the gods of storytelling in mind.
One of the Best New Books to Read in 2023.
[A] stunning debut novel . . . With magnetic prose and characters, Palmer has created a story where readers will be invested page one.
is the author of The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts. She is a Flatbush-born-and-raised writer and licensed social worker who has done organizing and advocacy work on the issues of gender-based violence, criminalized survivorship, gentrification, and police brutality. Her novel was named one of Today's “38 Best New Books to Read in 2023,” one of the “Buzziest Debut Novels of the New Year” by Goodreads, one of the “Best and Most Anticipated Books of 2023” by Elle magazine, and one of “The Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2023” by Ms. Magazine. She is a 2024 Fiction Fellow for the New York Foundation of the Arts and has been awarded residencies at the Blue Mountain Center in upstate NY and the Nawat Fes Residency in Fes, Morocco. She has been selected by LAMBDA Literary as a speaker for High Schools across New York City. She teaches Fiction at the MFA program at CUNY City College and Writing Magical Realism for the Center for Fiction. She lives in Brooklyn with her cat, Nicholas.
My Writing
Join my mailing list
Sign up to receive updates when I’m doing an event near you.