The Godmother and Other Stories

The lyrical yet unsentimental stories in this collection offer a portrait of the postcolonial experience of Guyanese citizens. Four decades of history, from the 1960s to the present, are covered through the experiences of the different characters, including Harold, who celebrates the triumph of his Indian-supported political party; Chuni, who encounters the revolutionary rise of a new black middle class; and Sylvia, who confronts her Guyanese roots during an exile in England. A sensitivity to psychological undertones and a poetic sense of the Guyanese worldview allow these stories to resonate with the metaphysical and mundane transformations of the characters.