Barefoot Days: Jamaican Born and Raised by Dian Simms

Barefoot Days: Jamaican Born and Raised is a heartfelt memoir of childhood, culture, and community in rural Jamaica.

Growing up in a small village, Dian Simms learned early that life did not need to be rich in money to be rich in meaning. From sweeping the yard at sunrise and fetching water before school, to bush teas, Saturday soup, market days, Anansi stories, duppy tales, church, school, family, and the watchful eyes of neighbors, everyday life was filled with lessons that stayed long after childhood ended.

With warmth, humor, and honesty, Dian brings readers into a Jamaica shaped by simplicity, discipline, resourcefulness, tradition, and love. These are memories of the people who raised her, the customs that shaped her, and the ordinary moments that became extraordinary with time.

Barefoot Days is both a personal journey and a celebration of Jamaican life—a reminder that the places we come from never truly leave us.