Conceived by Jamaica''s first Poet Laureate, Thomas MacDermot, The All Jamaican Library is where literary publishing in Jamaica found its footing. This indigenous imprint was designed to put forth work written by Jamaicans about Jamaica while being reasonably priced in order to remain accessible to the locals. Though it only ran for six years, MacDermot published two of his own novels, Becka’s Buckra Baby (1904) and One Brown Girl and ¼ (1909) comprising "The Story of Noel," as well as E.A. Dodds’ Maroon Medicine (1905)-the first collection of stories by a Caribbean writer—and W.A. Campbell’s short story, Marguarite: A Story of the Earthquake (1907).
The first work from the series, Becka’s Buckra Baby, is a tragic story of race and class following the life of Noel Maud Bronvola. Wanting to honor her father after his death, Noel dedicates herself to helping others, eventually bringing a gift to a young child
