"Patsy" Writing that Depicts Womanhood and Sexuality

Patsy Book Review 

*No Spoiler Review 

Rate: 5/5  

Description: Raw, Unfiltered, and unapologetic 

Themes: Womanhood, Gender/Sexual identity, Immigration, motherhood, and intersecting Identities 

Did I Cry: Yes  

Patsy by Nicole Dennis Ben is a complex, beautiful tragic novel centered around intersexuality, Sexuality, and womanhood. Throughout this story Nicole makes you step within yourself and view your own identities and the impact of living within your truth. Makes you ask questions 

What would you do for self-liberation? 

And  

How much will you sacrifice to live in your truth? 

We meet Patsy a young woman almost hitting the age of 30. stuck within the fantasy of freedom. Confined by what she believes as burdens. Left in Jamaica to care for her daughter and mother she longs to live a life of freedom with her childhood friend and great love Cicel in New York City.  

You see her constant battle with her reality and her fantasy of freedom as she struggles to get her papers (To go to New York). Her conflicting belief between what it is she wants and what she has. Facing her daughter and her everyday life leaving her in a downward spiral of longing and Loneliness that confines her to her bed.  

Only the letters from her dearest Cicely can bring her some ounce of hope 

There is a battle found between the story and the reader as you come to terms with Patsy. She believes her decision to leave her daughter a selfish one, but for Patsy, it was a means of survival. She asked herself the question: What will I sacrifice to live my truth? For her, a sacrifice of self to maintain her position in her daughter's life was not worth losing her sense of anatomy.  

Many viewed Patsy as a bird seeking the air for freedom of flight. She could not be tamed as Roy the father of her daughter Tru stated many times as Tru aged without the guidance of her mother.  

Patsy is a heartbreaking tale that highlights the reality of womanhood and navigating the world as a Queer, Black, Immigrant woman. For even faced with the reality of her shattered fantasy Patsy must come to terms with her own identity and make a life for herself in America.  

Throughout the story, we jump from the perspective of Patsy and Tru, Patsy young daughter. The conflicting viewpoints of the two characters create a complex dynamic that mirrors each other's experience, as you see Tru begin to come into her own Identity without the knowledge of her mother's struggle.  

This relationship reflects the continuous pattern of generational trauma that highlights the impact that a parent can have regardless of their standing in their child's life. It was interesting to see how they impact each other's story without the connection being present.  

As they both struggle to come to terms with their intersecting Identities they display them in separate ways. While Patsy comes out through her sexual expression, she leans into her womanhood and its interaction with males as validation of her existence. A way for her to be desired and seen due to past traumas and current neglect. There is an ease that comes from utilizing her womanly body in a way that she has always known.  

While true experience within womanhood is expressed through her gender identity, she leans away from feminine presenting drops within her masculine exempting that as her physical expression and rebelling against the systems placed on her as a young developing woman.  

This difference is apparent but still stems from the same thing. To be seen in to be known. Patsy desired to be seen and understood especially from her Cicel in the beginning. She only allows herself to be soft and welcoming to her truest loves aka Cicely and Claudette two of her love interest within the book.  

I recommend this book to those looking for a complex read that allows the mind to ponder your standing within your own life. I believe the book makes you ask questions and push the confines of binary thinking. It was a quick read as I couldn't put it down. I finished it in a day and one afternoon.  

A perfect book to sit curled up on the couch, a cup of tea, and silence.