Abstract
This submission is a review of the 2008 publication, A Permanent Freedom, by Jamaican author Curdella Forbes. It accords particular attention to the importance of the journey motif in this sequence of stories - which relates the adventures of West Indians primarily migrating to or resident in North America, and addresses issues of identity, familial and national history and individual trauma. The review also highlights Forbes' characteristic gift of exploiting the full continuum of Jamaican language.