Ever Since We Small Launch Party

“...with beguiling characters and an emotional pull that made me want to swallow the book whole. Celeste Mohamed is a wise and consummate storyteller.”

– Jendella Benson, author of Hope&Glory and All That We've Got

An unmissable night in London to celebrate the release of Ever Since We Small, the beguiling second novel-in-stories from award-winning author Celeste Mohammed.

Hosted by Shelf Interest Bookclub in collaboration with Jacaranda Books, join us for an evening of conversation, books, drinks and music as we get into this distinctively Indo-Trinidadian story where survival, resilience and self-discovery are passed down through generations.

First launched in Trinidad and Tobago in a landmark first for both the author and publishing house, this London event kicks off a UK-wide tour and is a chance for long-term fans of Celeste Mohammed’s work to meet the author in person and celebrate her triumphant second offering.

With praise from authors like Cherie Jones, Yvonne Bailey-Smith, Ira Mathur, Isabelle Dupuy and more, Ever Since We Small is a break-out must-read for 2025.

Copies of Ever Since We Small will be on sale all night at a special pre-publication date 10% off, with author signings to follow the in-conversation.

Keep up with the rest of her tour here to see if she is coming to a city near you or a city of a friend who needs to be in the know!

Ever Since We Small Blurb

An intricately woven tapestry of stories where survival, resilience and self-discovery are passed down through generations of an Indo-Trinidadian family.

Celeste Mohammed's second novel-in-stories, Ever Since We Small, is a family saga which covers a sweeping landscape from the days of the British Raj in India, to multicultural modern Trinidad. Written in a blend of Standard English and several flavours of Trinidad kriol, the book follows the bloodline of a young woman, Jayanti, after her decision to become a girmitiya, an indentured labourer in the Caribbean.

Jayanti's grandson, Lall Gopaul, seeks to escape the rural village where he was born, but becomes seduced and corrupted by urban life. His son, Shiva, is forced to take a child-bride, Salma, but never recovers from the guilt. Heartache follows for their three children - Anand, Nadya and Abby - who must each find a way to accept and yet move past their parents' failed example.

Along the journey of these ten interconnected stories, the alchemy necessary to turn the Gopauls' inheritance of pain into a "generation of gold" requires intervention by the living and dead, the "real" and the mythical, the mundane and the magical, the secular and the sacred.

About Celeste Mohammed

​​Celeste has been a lawyer since 2001 but she has been telling stories all her life. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, in 2016, she graduated from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, with an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction). Celeste's goal is to dispel all myths about island-life and island-people, and to showcase the musicality and resonance of Trinidadian creole (kriol).

Her work has appeared in The New England Review, Litmag, Epiphany, The Rumpus, among other places. She is the recipient of a 2018 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. She was also awarded the 2019 Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction, and the 2017 John D Gardner Memorial Prize for Fiction.

About Shelf Interest Book Club

Shelf Interest Book Club is a London-based book club celebrating and centring Black authors and their stories. Rooted in community, we connect our members with powerful reads, meaningful conversations, and the authors behind them. Through books and playful, engaging activities, we create welcoming spaces that foster connection and reflection. Our reviews are thoughtful and nuanced, shaped by the rich perspectives within our community.

About Jacaranda Books

Jacaranda Books is an award-winning, diverse-owned independent publisher and bookseller.

We are dedicated to promoting and celebrating brilliant diverse literature. Since launching our first title in 2014, we have published 70+ titles by a raft of talented authors, including multiple award-winners Irenosen Okojie, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Bernice L. McFadden, and Shola von Reinhold.

Our ethos is simple — we are committed to publishing ground-breaking writing with a dedication to creating space on the bookshelf for diverse ideas and writers.