What Start Bad a Mornin’

Amaya Lin has few memories of the years before she turned eighteen. Now in her forties, she has compensated by carefully cultivating a satisfying life as a wife, mother, and business professional. Her husband’s law practice is on the brink of major success; her neurodiverse son has grown into an independent adult; and she has come to terms with her aunt’s dementia. This sense of order is disrupted when she encounters a stranger who claims to have an impossible connection, launching Amaya on a tumultuous journey into the past.

What Start Bad a Mornin Cover

Using three interwoven narratives spanning the US, Trinidad, and Jamaica, Carol Mitchell’s debut gives voice to an immigrant woman forced to confront her repressed memories of violent trauma.

Advance Comments and Reviews:

    • “With luminous prose, Carol Mitchell tells the story of every Caribbean immigrant, indeed any immigrant, who has had to remake a life they have known in their homeland for the uncertainties in the US where race is often the determinant for success. What Start Bad a Mornin’ leaves the reader with empathy for the passions that drive the ambitions of the vividly-drawn characters, and, at the same time, it is a cautionary tale about the consequences of repressing childhood trauma. A compelling debut novel. – Elizabeth Nunez, Prospero’s Daughter, Now Lila Knows

    • ”With What Start Bad a Mornin’, Carol Mitchell casts light on immigration’s most unsettling predicament:the tension between the life you leave and the one you create. In vibrant prose, she demonstrates how an unacknowledged past will never die, as well as the power – and cost – that comes in surviving it.” – Courtney Angela Brkic, author and memoirist.

    • “What Start a Bad Mornin’ is a breathtaking novel. Amaya Lin, loving mother, wife and caretaker of many, has built a life that is on the verge of collapse when a hidden past sweeps in. I was riveted by the revelations that followed, stunned by the conclusion. Carol Mitchell is a writer of immense talent and this is a stellar debut.” – Cleyvis Natera, author of Neruda on the Park

    • “In carefully measured spoons, Carol reveals the details of Amaya’s life, keeping our interest piqued, holding our attention until the very surprising ending. Richly characterized, mystery and intrigue, buried memories and glaring revelations, this story of family, displacement, loss, and immigration keeps you eager to get to the next page.” Opal Palmer Adisa, The Storyteller’s Return

    • “Carol Mitchell’s novel, What Start Bad a Mornin’, is sublime and intensely compassionate. This debut is uncompromisingly Caribbean; yet, it sings of the America into whose arms immigrants collapse with the intention of rising above the selves they once were. Mitchell’s complex characters are enmeshed in an intricate web of classism, racism, colorism, and nationalism—sometimes under the same roof. The intangible and unnamable elements of one’s abandoned home follow these hopeful immigrants wherever the future finds them. This is a story of grief as characters sow seeds and must forsake the harvest. This is also a story of triumph. Each sentence is carefully crafted, polished, and captivating. What Start Bad a Mornin’ is glorious and downright unforgettable. Mitchell’s craftsmanship is astounding. This is a book you’ll want to read more than once.” – Katia Ulysse, Mouths Don’t Speak

    • “What Start Bad a Mornin’ is an expertly-crafted story weaving past and present into an intricate fabric with a surprising ending. Carol Mitchell takes you on a wild journey through the mind of Amaya, as she peels back layer after layer, revealing suspenseful glimpses into a past she would much rather forget.” – Jewel Amethyst, author

    • “One sentence spoken by a stranger becomes the thread that unlocks decades-old memories for Amaya, who has been living as if her past never existed. Carol Mitchell’s debut adult novel is brilliant storytelling that deftly weaves a tale of cross-cultural Caribbean life, trauma, and survival. I couldn’t put it down.” – Nerissa Golden, Ordained for This and In Plain Sight

    • “What Start Bad a Mornin’ grapples with themes ranging from quiet domestic desperation to the perils of the immigrant experience, from latent racism to the literal violence of politics. The character dynamics are complex and interesting; the entanglements sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes heartwarming, sometimes frustrating, sometimes cosy, all the beats of genuine human interaction. A compelling, meditative, and well-paced journey.” Joanne C. Hillhouse, writer

    • “What Start Bad A Mornin’ is a tense, gripping tale of a woman’s unwilling spiral into her own locked past. As her protective layers of amnesia are inexorably stripped away, the pillars of her life tilt, crack and crumble, forcing her to question everything she believes about herself as she scavenges for the truth: What is real? What is mirage? Amaya’s journey of self-discovery takes her thousands of miles, real and newly recollected, from her ordered existence in Virginia, USA to the Caribbean island of Trinidad where she lived as a student and met the man who would become her husband, and finally to Jamaica, her birthplace, where the threads of a turbulent political and personal history intersect and converge in a tapestry as violent as it is revelatory.” – Charmaine Rousseau, author

    • Various editors:

“A moving, powerful novel”
“I couldn’t put it down”
“rich personalities and histories”
“deftly intertwined threads.”
“Brilliant storytelling”

Where to buy:

Publication Details

More information direct from the author!

The proof is here!

What does the name What Start Bad a Mornin’ mean? (45 second video)

How does Great Falls Park in Virginia feature in What Start Bad a Mornin’? (55 second video)

For review requests contact Central Avenue Publishing or Carol Mitchell using carol at carolmitchellbooks.com

For interview or other speaking requests, contact Carol or her literary agent: Murray Weiss at  murray at catalystlit.com