Night Calypso

1938 is a tumultous year in the small Trinidadian island of El Caracol. In the sultry heat of the summer a young orphan, Theo, is sent to live with the island's doctor, Vincent Metivier. The doctor knows little of Theo's past, only that it has been troubled and that he now needs love and attention.

From Booklist

Three troubled souls weather stormy emotional times in this stirring novel set in late 1930s Trinidad. Vincent Metivier is a white doctor of French Creole descent, overseeing a leprosarium on the fictional island of El Caracol. His research assistant, Therese Weil, is a beautiful Jewish nurse who joined the island's convent to escape religious persecution in her native France. Bright, moody Theo is an orphan boy adopted by Metivier at the request of a parish priest. As island radios crackle with news of World War II and feelings of civil unrest simmer on El Caracol, young Theo relives a childhood of physical abuse in a heartbreaking nocturnal calypso. His searing stories haunt Metivier, prompting painful recollections from the doctor's privileged past. When a hurricane pummels the island, Vincent and Therese seek shelter in an abandoned boathouse, a decision that forever changes the course of their lives. In a tale saturated with sultry images, Commonwealth Prize-winning Trinidadian writer Scott explores life, death, forbidden love, and memories that fade but never fade away. Allison BlockCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Lawrence Scott is a past winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. He has been longlisted for both the Whitbread and Booker prizes for his previous novels. He is the author Aelred's Sin.

Reviews

News