Susan Proudleigh (1915) is a novel by H. G. de Lisser. Born and raised
in Jamaica, H. G. de Lisser was one of the leading Caribbean writers of
the early twentieth century. Concerned with issues of race, urban life,
and modernization, de Lisser dedicated his career to representing the
lives and concerns of poor and middle-class Jamaicans. In Susan
Proudleigh, one of the first West Indian novels to feature a Black
protagonist, de Lisser captures the hope and struggle of a young woman
leaving home for the first time. "She carried herself with an air of
social superiority which was gall and wormwood to the envious; and often
on walking through the lane she had noticed the contemptuous looks of
those whom, with greater contempt, she called the common folks and
treated with but half-concealed disdain. On the whole, she had rather
enjoyed the hostility of these people, for it was in its way a tribute
to her own importance." Raised in a time of modernization in the
Jamaican capital of Kingston, Susan Proudleigh is a young Black woman
who dreams of improving her life. Perceived as a social climber, she
becomes the target of disdain and cruelty from members of her community,
especially other women. As she narrows her sights on a young man named
Tom, whom she does not love but admires, and as Kingston suffers from a
loss of economic vitality, Susan must choose whether to stay with her
family or to move with Tom to Panama, where construction jobs abound.
Susan Proudleigh is a realist portrait of twentieth century life in
the Caribbean, a story of romance and ambition that examines the
religious and social traditions of Jamaica in a period of massive
cultural change. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally
typeset manuscript, this edition of H. G. de Lisser's Susan Proudleigh
is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for modern readers.
