Dominoes

LoveReading Says

Thought-provoking and thoroughly engaging, Phoebe McIntosh’s Dominoes sees the love of a lifetime thrown into conflicted disarray when a Londoner born to a Black British-Jamaican mother and an absent white father falls for a man whose ancestors profited from the British slave trade. 

Moving from London, to Jamaica and back again as its protagonist experiences the enduring impact of slavery, and a palpable pull between her past, present and future, Dominoes also explores the injustices of the ongoing Windrush scandal, colourism, family love, romantic love, and what it means to be free, and to honour ancestors.

All this is wrapped up as an un-put-down-able love story that begins when Layla meets Andy at a party. Sparks fly from the off (they even share the same surname), so they move in together and get engaged. But Layla’s best friend Sera isn’t convinced by the match — not when Andy’s aunt makes a comment about Layla’s light skin at their engagement party, and definitely not when it emerges that Andy’s wealthy family had been slaveowners in Jamaica.

Angry, but also “full of care and love”, Sera can’t watch her friend marry him. At the same time, Layla is unbearably torn: “I felt like a traitor”.

With a countdown to the couple’s wedding adding to the rising tension, Layla journeys to Jamaica with her mother and grandad, where she reconnects with her generous-hearted family, makes startling discoveries, and receives beautiful, edifying words from her grandfather: “With freedom, nobody can tell you what fi do, who fi love.

With freedom der not one race better than any odda. Bab, you free. Go live, free. Go love, free. That is di most important t’ing you can both do to honour our ancestors.”

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About Dominoes

'A must-read... compulsively timely novel' Stylist When Layla and Andy first meet, they can't believe they have the same surname. It feels like fate… Sera, Layla's best friend, has her doubts about Andy. As the couple fall deeper in love, Sera becomes more and more vocal about Layla settling down with a white boy. And then, only a few weeks before their wedding, Layla makes a devastating discovery - could their families be linked in the worst possible way?What seemed like a fairy-tale romance is rapidly derailed as Layla begins to uncover parts of her history and identity that she had never imagined - or, perhaps, had simply learnt to ignore.And now, she faces an impossible choice.**A STYLIST UNMISSABLE BOOK FOR 2024**'A warm, sweet love story, and a thought-provoking examination of the British slave trade and its legacy' MARIAN KEYES'I loved this book' JACQUELINE CROOKS, author of Fire Rush'So kind and smart and clear-eyed' HOLLY GRAMAZIO, author of The HusbandsREADERS LOVE DOMINOES:'Tender, thought-provoking and hard-hitting''Kept me second guessing how things would turn out until the very end''Incredibly thought-provoking''Such an important novel''I laughed, I cried, I learned A LOT''So much more than a love story'

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