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“This is a weird time to be living in the U.S.," said author and University of New Brunswick (UNB) alumna Christina Cooke (MA'12) to her supporters at a recent online reading of her debut novel.

“But I am grateful for art because it helps you stay grounded so you can take meaningful steps towards a life that respects all people,” Cooke said. “Art gives you perspective.”

Cooke’s new novel, Broughtupsy, follows Akúa, a young woman living in Canada who is grieving the unexpected loss of her brother. Deciding to return his ashes to their homeland of Jamaica, Akúa reunites with her sister, Tamika. The novel explores the acute differences between the sisters, and the struggle for Akúa to find a feeling of home, and ultimately to find herself.

The seeds of Broughtupsy grew out of a series of short stories Cooke wrote for her thesis in creative writing, part of her Master of Arts from UNB. The evolution of the work continued to be nurtured by associate professor of English, Sue Sinclair, and others in the university’s writing community.

“I knew I wanted to be a writer who engaged with big, academic themes. That was one of the things that made the master’s program at UNB so attractive. I was provided a chance to create my own work, while doing literary critique, and to really delve into the how and the what of my writing.”

But what does “Broughtupsy” mean?

“It’s part of a saying, which is ‘you no have no broughtupsy’, which essentially means, ‘you don’t have good upbringing’,” Cooke explained. “The saying is typically used to chide someone, to say you’ve done something wrong.

“Interestingly, it’s a phrase that is almost exclusively used on girls, never on boys or men. I used it as the title of my novel because I wanted to subvert the idea of ‘a good upbringing’ through a queer, female perspective.”

Akúa’s identity as a queer young woman, provides perspective for the reader as they are guided through her journey across Jamaica.

“The book is queer. It is heavily queer in the way that it treats story, in the way it treats time as an experiential thing rather than as a barometer against which our lives can be measured. Also, in terms of how relationships are broached and what the non-negotiables are in terms of how to keep love alive.

“It’s also queer in that Akúa is 20 and she finds someone to make her happy,” Cooke playfully explained.

Tamika—a dutiful, traditional older sister who returned to Jamaica to care for her mother—and the significantly younger Akúa—who has lived in the United States and Canada for over a decade—have grown apart in many ways. Without their brother to help bridge the divide, the two must confront their differences.

Broughtupsy also explores the idea of grief over loss of culture.

”I knew from the beginning I had to pair this idea, this internal feeling of loss of connection or loss of culture, with this external thing: the loss of engagement with another human being,” Cooke explained.

“I also like how the term ‘Broughtupsy’ brings to mind the idea of an autopsy, because in many ways this novel is a kind of autopsy of the estranged relationship between two sisters.”

A question Cooke is often asked is whether her novel is autobiographical. Like many writers, she has taken inspiration from her personal experiences, but said the characters are fictional.

“They are a mix of people I know, people I wish I knew, and people I don’t ever want to know”.

“The one thing that is similar between the book and my life is being an insider/outsider,” she said.

The rich descriptions of the sights, sounds and ambiance in Jamaica are a testament to that. The book is descriptive enough to bring a reader unfamiliar with the locales to those places but understanding enough of the culture to let it speak for itself.

During the online reading event, pride, support and enthusiasm for Broughtupsy was evident.

“They’ve been such wonderful advocates of my work,” Cooke said of her UNB network. “The community doesn’t leave you, even if you go away.”