Orchestrating the earthy narrative is the spirit of Old Cudjoe, who tells the story through the lives of his grown grandchildren, Cephus and Inez, their spouses, Doreen and Boysie, and children, Kwame and Kojo, as they react to the election of Anthony Roachford, one of the Hill's own, as prime minister. The community is a brilliant microcosm in which ancient wisdom is juxtaposed with modern naivete, lust with love and pettiness with honor. While political and religious avarice are as old as time, the people of the Hill come to life as original and vital creations, as do the spirits of their rambunctious deceased relatives. Originally from Barbados but now a Virginia resident, Kamau sets his tale on the Hill, a tight-knit community of farmers, craftsmen and dockworkers, focusing on the effects of the governmental shift on the common people. The epic power of the West Indies' storytelling tradition comes alive in this skillfully imagined first novel about an unnamed Caribbean island making the transition from colonial domination to self-rule.
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