Transport me from this dreary, rainy Northwest weather to something warm and tropical— that’s all I asked as I opened this book with its summery title. What I got was so much more. Trinidad is the lush setting for Roffey’s exploration of post-colonialism and all of its social and political complexities.

Sabine and George Harwood’s equally complicated marriage is the centerpiece of the story, which is told first through George’s viewpoint in 2006, then switches back to Sabine’s point of view starting 50 years earlier up on the couple’s arrival in Trinidad from England. For Sabine, this is a three-year commitment to further her husband’s career. For George, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform his life… for good. George is intoxicated by the tropical, luxurious estates and lifestyle, including the island’s exotic women. Sabine is repulsed by the inequities of social life, the dilapidated shacks with no electricity or running water for the serving class. She befriends the women who work for her and dabbles in local politics, taking a curious interest in Eric Williams, the young nation’s new leader who promises growth and prosperity for all. Through a long-running series of letters (never sent) she writes to Williams of her dissatisfaction with is government and her life and marriage. Years later, George discovers these letters.

Written in lush, descriptive language, this book creates a palpable sense of Trinidad with all of its mysterious and seductive qualities. It also chronicles the marriage of two people who love each other deeply but can’t accept each other’s choices. Trinidad and the marriage become the same combination of paradise and hell. Roffey has written an exquisite novel that shimmers with the sweaty lushness of the tropics— a wonderful book that does equal justice to its sense of place and its uneasy characters. ~Wendee