River Mumma

By: Zalika Reid-Benta

Narrated by: Tymika Tafari

Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

"Wholly original, remarkably crafted, and unmatched in voice. I loved this book!”—Cherie Dimaline, bestselling author of VenCo and Empire of Wild

Issa Rae's Insecure with a magical realist spin: River Mumma is an exhilarating contemporary fantasy novel about a young Black woman who navigates her quarter-life-crisis while embarking on a mythical quest through the streets of Toronto.

Alicia has been out of grad school for months. She has no career prospects and lives with her mom, who won’t stop texting her macabre news stories and reminders to pick up items from the grocery store.

Then, one evening, the Jamaican water deity, River Mumma, appears to Alicia, telling her that she has twenty-four hours to scour the city for her missing comb.

Alicia doesn’t understand why River Mumma would choose her. She can’t remember all the legends her relatives told her, unlike her retail co-worker Heaven, who can reel off Jamaican folklore by heart. She doesn’t know if her childhood visions have returned, or why she feels a strange connection to her other co-worker Mars. But when the trio are chased down by malevolent spirits called duppies, they realize their tenuous bonds to each other may be their only lifelines. With the clock ticking, Alicia’s quest through the city broadens into a journey through time—to find herself and what the river carries.

River Mumma is a powerful portrayal of diasporic identities and a vital examination into ancestral ties. It is a homage to Jamaican storytelling by one of the most invigorating voices in Canadian literature.

©2023 Zalika Reid-Benta (P)2023 Penguin Canada

Critic reviews

FINALIST FOR THE 2024 TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD

CBC'S "BEST CANADIAN FICTION OF 2023"
Cityline's October Book Club Pick

One of:
The Walrus' "Best Books of Fall 2023"
Chatelaine's "Your Official Summer 2023 Reading List"
CBC Books' "74 works of Canadian fiction to read in fall 2023"

"Reid-Benta’s stunning debut draws on Caribbean myth, horror, and old-school urban fantasy . . . to build a quest tale for the postpandemic generation of the region’s diaspora. It’s a rich and sometimes even dizzying brew that marks the emergence of a powerful new voice."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A race-against-the-clock page-turner with friendship and diasporic community building at its heart, this book is a winner.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“River Mumma is a profoundly moving celebration of kinship, following the journey of a dynamic trio that turn into a family and find ancestry that is at once defining and liberating. It’s funny and colourful, and it paints a nostalgic image of a Toronto where communities create homes, all while specifically honouring Caribbean wit and magic and joy. Zalika Reid-Benta’s writing is riveting; it is meant to entertain and inspire and leave you one step closer to your truth.”
—Téa Mutonji, award-winning author of Shut Up You're Pretty