Zillah Jones’s debut novel explores a mixed-race woman’s search for identity and belonging.

Debut novel from Manitoba writer Zillah Jones The world is so wide will be released in April 2025. The book tells the story of Felicity Alexander, a mixed-race opera star who spends her entire life chasing love and acceptance.

It is a story of betrayal, revolution set in the context of the US invasion of Grenada, and the healing power of music.

“I’ve always wanted to write fiction about my experience as a black singer in spaces that are still predominantly white, and the enormous dedication, but also the isolation and loneliness of working to become excellent at your craft, whether it’s music or writing. ” Jones wrote in an email. CBC Books.

Jones is a black woman from Winnipeg. She has won numerous literary awards, including the Journey Prize, the Malahat Review Open Season Award, the Jacob Silber Short Fiction Award, and the FreeFall Short Fiction Award.

Jones did 2020 CBC Short Story Award Longlist For Our Father and was included in the long list of its history twice How to make a friendin 2022 and 2023, until shortlisted in 2024. That same year Jones made longlisted for the CBC Nonfiction Award. She was also named writer CBC Books will be watching in 2024.

Jones explained that as a child, she often heard stories about political events in Grenada from her family members.

“The rise of Felicity’s career parallels the rise of Grenada’s aspirations. The thread that connects these two stories is Felicity’s search for identity and belonging as a mixed-race woman. It’s a topic dear to my heart that I’ve struggled with most of my life, so it’s no surprise that my first novel is steeped in it,” she said.

“My short story How to make a friendwhich was shortlisted for the 2024 CBC Short Story Awardit is also a story of black resistance and liberation. Since its publication, readers across the country have told me how universal the themes of bullying and isolation are, and how human the story is. Also, The world is so wide for anyone who has felt silenced or left out. This is a book that honors all our weaknesses and offers healing.”

The world is so wide will be released in April 2025. You can read the excerpt below.

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St. George, Grenada, October 8, 1983

A soldier with a gun and a conductor with a baton: both men who gained power by pointing their sticks at women. Felicity Alexander had seen a lot of sticks in her time and knew that the best way to react was to ignore the men who wielded them. Keep singing at her tempo or keep digging a hole under the fence with your bare hands.

– I’m asking you, what are you doing? The gun shook. The holder had a smooth face, lanky limbs protruding from the sleeves and cuffs of his uniform; he was a boy, but not yet a man.

“I’m trying to get out of here.” The fireflies lit up the night with bright swirling tiny moving stars. The warmth that enveloped Felicity’s shoulders was like a wet towel, soaked in the scent of the ocean that sparkled in the distance. She chose a spot protected from the rest of the yard by a cluster of banana trees, but somehow this child found her.

“You know everyone in the house needs to stay home.” He pointed the gun in her direction, but its muzzle shook and fell to the ground.

“Everyone in the house who is a member of the government of Grenada.”

“And you. You are from the enemy, from the USA.”

Felicity regretted that lie. This was said impulsively when the army first arrived.

“Why on earth would you want to waste your time advocating for the People’s Revolutionary Government of Grenada?” her agent asked her when she was still safe in Winnipeg. “Besides the political implications, these agreements seem rather insufficient. Very amateur.”

Felicity lied then too. “It has to do with my background. Finding yourself.”

“Yes,” said her agent. “You knew Neville Carpenter when he was a student, didn’t you? The thing is, Felicity, Neville Carpenter is a controversial figure. He’s a media darling, he’s sexy, he’s an international womanizer, but there are a lot of people who think he’s a bloodthirsty communist. “Rolling in the hay for old times sake isn’t worth the potential hit to your career.”

“I could just fire you and leave.”

Her agent swallowed so hard that Felicity heard it on the other end of the line. “Okay, go ahead, but for God’s sake, keep it in the shade. Come in and leave quickly.”

When the soldiers asked Felicity to introduce herself, she remembered her agent’s words and told them the name she used at the clinic in Sautere twelve years ago.

When the soldiers asked Felicity to introduce herself, she remembered her agent’s words and told them the name she used at the clinic in Sautere twelve years ago. Lydia Felix: Her middle name and her ex-husband’s last name. Lydia Felix, American, friend of Prime Minister Neville Carpenter. Not Felicity Alexander, the Canadian opera singer still in love with Neville’s deputy Claude Buckingham, eighteen years after they met.

“You’re a dirty American,” said the boy with the gun. “Everyone, you have a real president’s ass.”

“Black Americans don’t like him either,” Felicity said. “America won’t lift a finger to help a black woman.”

“Who is Black? You?”

Felicity remembered that her racial identity was not questioned in Canada, England, or the United States, but here in Grenada, her lighter shade of brown and thick, curly hair were given distinction and privilege.

“You need to go inside,” the soldier boy said. He grew bolder and poked Felicity in the side with the butt of his pistol. “You all have strict manners.”

“You’re misunderstanding this,” Felicity said. “Your hands go here. Look”. She stood next to him and allowed her body to touch his. She was wearing only Neville’s Malcolm X T-shirt and a pair of his boxer shorts with the waist rolled up to hold them up. The young soldier winced as she released his fingers from the weapon and brought one hand to the sight, the other to the trigger, as Hans had shown her at the shooting range in Vienna. “What is your name?” she asked.

“Elric,” he said. His teeth chattered in the warm breeze that rustled the broad leaves of the banana trees.

“How old are you, Elric?

“Sixteen.”

“You should be at school.” Felicity was angry that Neville’s intransigence and stupidity led to such boys picking up guns rather than books.

“Who can afford school?” Elric asked, and Felicity remembered her cousin Arnold many years ago. “The school is for you foreigners,” he told her.

“I thought Neville made schools free.”

“For free? It’s not free if you have to eat.” Elric spat on the ground. “Brother Karp did nothing to feed our families. That’s why we had to remove him from power.” He pointed the rifle at Felicity again. “And all of you who support him should stay inside.”

“Okay,” Felicity said. “Fine.” She held out her hands, palms up. “I’ll go.” She knew he wouldn’t shoot her intentionally, but she didn’t trust him to accidentally fire the gun. She turned to the white walls of the Government House, which glittered in the shadows. Mosquitoes settled on her arms and legs, but she did not dare swat them, lest the movement or sound alarm Elric. She walked, and the gravel, also painted white, crunched under her bare feet. After taking a few steps, she turned around and saw that Elric was still watching her. “Elric,” she said. “How will this all end?”

She couldn’t read his face in the darkness when his voice reached her. “This will end,” he said, “when Brother Karp agrees to the transfer of power, Brother Henry becomes our new leader, and we will all have workers’ solidarity and there will be no more bourgeoisie.”

Felicity doubted he understood what those words meant. To be honest, so is she.

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Excerpted with permission The world is so wide Zillah Jones, 2025 Cormorant Books.