Cover of Brown Girl in the Ring

Brown Girl in the Ring

core novel 1998 Brown Girl in the Ring

Record

First published1998
Original language EN
Work typenovel
Canon statuscore
Reader rating3.85 (7,680 ratings, collected 2026-08-28)
Page count274
First-edition ISBN9780446674331

Synopsis

Set in a near-future, dystopian Toronto that has split into an impoverished, walled-off inner city called the Burn and wealthier suburbs beyond its edges, the novel follows Ti-Jeanne, a young Afro-Caribbean woman descended from a matrilineal line of seers and healers whose gifts she has spent years trying to avoid rather than embrace. Raising an infant son and increasingly estranged from the baby's father, Tony, Ti-Jeanne is drawn against her wishes into a dangerous conflict involving Rudy, the city's ruthless crime boss, whose criminal empire is entangled with darker, spiritual forces tied to the very Caribbean traditions Ti-Jeanne has resisted. As Tony's own troubles with Rudy pull the whole family deeper into danger, Ti-Jeanne must decide whether to finally claim the inherited gifts she has spent her life running from in order to protect the people she loves.

Where it sits

Notes

  • A standalone urban fantasy set in a near-future, economically collapsed Toronto, drawing on Caribbean folklore and Afro-Caribbean spirituality.

Sources

← Brown Girl in the Ring dossier · All universes

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