Darla

Darla had always rattled nerves. On her conservative, claustrophobic Caribbean island she demolished conventions with her strut while quaking in her ill-fitting boots. Being herself was dangerous, but despite pleas from her mother, friends, lovers and gate-keeping activists Darla knew she couldn't compromise. Whether it was her lascivious kinks that scared the men she bed, or her outré outfits that scandalized her family, Darla was determined to live her truth or die trying. Starting with a chance meeting Darla and pro bono human rights lawyer Phil plan a radical attack on the oppressive homophobia and transphobia stifling queer people on St. Ignatius. Along the way Darla relives some of her powerful memories of love, sex and pain, while undergoing a transformation in style and substance. And as Darla starts on the path to a new life, Phil plans his exit after many punishing years of activism. Set in the fictional Caribbean island of St. Ignatius, "Darla" is a semi-autobiographical book written by Jamaican attorney-at-law Maurice Tomlinson in collaboration with Caribbean Trans activist Alexa Hoffmann. The book chronicles some of the highs and lows of fighting for LGBT human rights in the region and provides a window into some of the internecine conflicts that have helped to pervert queer liberation across the region. To protect the "innocent" names, dates, places and descriptions of events have been modified.