Soon Come

Kuba Shand-Baptiste

'A triumph!' Yomi Adegoke, author of The List
'Sparkling . . . A beautiful celebration of the everyday defiance and quiet dreams of London's Caribbean community, and what it means to belong.' Service95
'Beautiful, nuanced characters that I could have spent a lifetime with.' Nathan Bryon, screenwriter of Rye Lane

In one tiny Caribbean restaurant, three friends try to build a future in a country that refuses to see them.

Judith came to Britain believing that hard work and respectability would keep her safe. Now a nurse, she keeps her head down and sends money home, quietly hoping her sacrifices will mean something.

Mikey is angry, restless and unafraid to speak truth to power - whether through protest or paint.

And Frank? Frank's just trying to find joy wherever he can, even if everything around him is falling apart.

Their worlds collide in a small Caribbean restaurant in North West London, where the smell of Scotch bonnet drifts out the windows and life-altering decisions are made between shifts and shared meals.

Across the decades, as new generations make their way in a city that changes around them, what remains is community, memory and the pulse of something unbreakable.

Soon Come is a rich, moving debut about migration, friendship and the spaces we create when the world gives us none.