Only the second book I’ve read set in Jamaica, and besides the main autobiographical part, it is also written descriptively, showing off both the physical beauty of the island, and the geopolitical history.

As for the queer memoir part though: Funny Gyal was sometimes hard to read, and unfortunately not unfamiliar. Although queer marriage is legal in my country (South Africa), and we are protected against discrimination by law, many queer South Africans - especially in rural or under-resourced settings - find themselves experiencing the same corrective rape, and the same difficulty with the justice system. Homophobic murders are also still common here. So Funny Gyal both showed me my privilege, and the painful similarities between our countries.

The author experiences a heavy faith crisis, ultimately finding her way back to religion - for me, this is a relatable journey, and a theme I enjoyed reading, but some readers may not be keen on the narrative.

Finally, the special thing about this memoir is that it is not filled with “It was hard but I got through it,” sunshine and roses, YOU CAN DO IT vibes. It is realistic, and feels realistically motivating.

Way to go, Angeline Jackson!

This is a moving, frank and incredibly important memoir about growing up a lesbian in Jamaica. While Jackson is a noted LGTB+ activist, this book focuses almost entirely the personal story of her experiences with homophobia, conversion therapy, sexual violence, and her journey to reconciling her Christian faith with her queerness throughout her teenage years. I think its particularly special for the way she centres faith throughout the book, which I don’t often encounter in queer memoirs.

The book goes back and forth between Jackson’s childhood and her later experience of sexual violence and the aftermath. This worked on the whole book level, but within individual chapters I sometimes found the structure a bit choppy, as though I was jumping from place to place instead of being guided along a coherent narrative. The writing itself was also occasionally hit and miss for me (for example, lots of the people mentioned are given a physical description, often using repetitive language, even when there didn’t seem a point to them being described.) Nevertheless, the story she tells absolutely made up for the fact that I didn’t get along with the prose.

There details and elements of Jackson’s story that I would have liked to read more about. For example she made a passing mention to volunteering in secret for Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, but the details were limited - considering the criminalisation of gay men and the fact that she herself was coerced into conversion therapy during that time, I’m left with so many questions about that experience. I hope to hear more from her in the future, through whatever form her advocacy takes.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is the story of Angeline Jackson and her experiences and journey of being a lesbian in Jamaica.

Overall this is an extremely emotional read and I felt so many different ways. Despite some very dark themes and so much pain there was so much spirit and strength throughout. Angeline Jackson is truly inspirational and I really am finding it quite difficult to find the right words as I really am just so emotional.

The experience of religion in relation to sexuality and personal identity is such an important narrative that I have so far rarely seen explored. As someone who mixed Jamaican and queer but who has not lived in or really experienced Jamaica first hand this was very eye opening. I learnt a lot of important and shocking things that I simply wasn't aware of and now I know I need to educate myself more and will do that work. The religious aspect and being queer is something I have struggled with and am still trying to figure out so to hear someone elses story of being queer within a religious setting was in a way comforting. Despite the darkness there was still a flicker of comfort in parts of this.

Angeline's story is so important and I would really recommend this to everyone.

You definitely have to be in the right headspace ti read this book. But I think the author's vulnerability and honesty about homophobia, conversion therapy, and assault speaks to how isolating and dangerous it is to be anything but straight, cis gender in the Caribbean to rthis day.

This book blew me away. I kind of expected that, to be honest. I was interested in reading more about Angeline Jackson for her activism and her experiences, but I’ve also read EVERY FALLING STAR by Sunju Lee and Susan McClelland. It’s been years since I read that book, but I still think about it, so I had high expectations for another memoir with Susan McClelland assisting in putting it together.

FUNNY GYAL drew me in from its early pages and didn’t let me go until the end of the book. I loved reading a queer, faith-positive story that continually challenged the idea that a person much choose between different aspects of who they are: faith or identity. Over and over Angeline Jackson returns to the idea that she can be, and is, both a person of faith and a lesbian, and that those two ideas aren’t in competition with one another.

I won’t lie– some parts of the book are hard to read. She describes some encounters with homophobic people. She also describes the trauma of rape, and the fears and doubts about the police taking the case seriously. Through her shared experiences, though, she reveals how the prejudices against LGBTQIA people leave them vulnerable as victims of violent crime. She shows incredible resilience and love, not only for herself, but for her country and her people.

She speaks frankly about the continual pain that it causes her for her family to choose a “love the sinner, hate the sin” kind of relationship with her. And how that makes her feel as though she can never fully be herself with them.

All in all, FUNNY GYAL is a rich, bold and vulnerable memoir about courage and resilience and finding your people. I loved this book. If you’re still looking for a good memoir to add to your Pride TBR this month, definitely check out this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
To start off with, this book is extremely heavy on trigger warnings, including(but not limited too) corrective r*pe, homophobia, and conversion therapy.
Funny Gyal is the incredible story of black Jamaican lesbian activist Angeline Jackson. Written in a pattern of alternating chapters describing her childhood and then the story of her s*xual assult, Angeline weaves a story of faith, strength, resilience, and what it’s like to be a young Black lesbian. This is not the kind of book you critique or rate(although I have given it a five stars for the purpose of giving the book a good rating on goodreads) This is the kind of book you read and sit with, letting the words steep in your head. This is the kind of story that teaches, that heals, that reaches out and touches your soul. Angeline’s perseverance in the face of rampant homophobia, her determination to keep her faith, is truly inspiring. Her story of her first memories of attraction towards girls, her first brushes with the lesbian community, history lessons with her father on Jamaican history, how colonialism is the direct cause of homophobia, finding community, to her horrifying experiences as a black lesbian in a homophobic world that would do anything to tear her down, this book covers it all. I highly recommend everyone should read this book!

This was such a powerful and moving read. I was heartbroken by the experiences that Angeline shared in Funny Gyal but also inspired by the way she has used her voice to fight for justice and LGBTQ+ rights. I highly recommend this book!

Funny Gyal is an unconventional teen story set in a community dominated by the Church in Jamaica’s St Anne’s. Here we are told both Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley were born. The reggae superstar and the visionary social entrepreneur linked by the words “emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind”.
As you read Angeline’s story, you will smile and yearn and at times hate the people she loves. At the start, there is bathetic tension between florid literary metaphors in descriptions like Mommy’s voice, “the honey that I’d twirl around on my spoon,” and something raw and honest. However, what early on seemed awkward and mawkish, resonates as the story unravels until, in the traumatized heart of the book, such garrulous words are a means to express the unspeakable, a thing worse than appalling violence, the fear of violence that you already experienced. For Angeline, relative to the brutality of corrective rape, the constant brutality of social opprobrium against homosexuality is a breeze. Although even she almost buckles under the pressure of conversion therapy, “Don’t you want to go to Heaven and be with your parents and sisters after you die?” The recurrent rhythm of poetry “like a warm wind on a still day” bears Angeline beyond the prejudice of her community.
Following this pattern, the narrative of Angeline's ungainly growing up oscillates around her everyday life, the awkwardness and fun of first love, and crisply reported, intensely traumatic situations. There is romance side by side with cruelty, empathy beside prejudice, all leading to resilience and, thankfully, more romance. In Angeline’s world, the church is the enemy’s camp, but still, she draws her strength from her Christian faith. Her ability to forgive allows her to rise above the limitations of her upbringing and become an independent voice. Eventually, she too oscillates between her homeland Jamaica and her freeland, the United States. The book’s totally nasty or just misguided characters jostle, dark and vaguely defined around the edges, while Angeline follows an unwavering path. She always knows what she must do, speak the truth, and speak is clearly, so others hear—the battle for emancipation is never won; she must fight with every breath.

A really heavy read at times, Funny Gyal was engaging and compelling. Jackson's writing is absolutely beautiful. This was one of those books I didn't want to end, because I just wanted to spend more time with the author. This would be a particularly good book for young people who are struggling with finding acceptance in their families and communities.