Trinidad – She Reads Novels

This is a book I would probably never have chosen to read if it hadn’t been nominated for this year’s Walter Scott Prize, but although I didn’t love it, for reasons I’ll explain below, it’s a book I’m glad I’ve read. For a start, it’s set in Trinidad and I’ve only ever read one other novel set there – Fortune by Amanda Smyth, which was also shortlisted for the same prize a few years ago – and it was good to have the opportunity to learn more about the history and culture of that country.

The story takes place in the 1940s in and around Bell Village in central Trinidad. Thirteen-year-old Krishna Saroop lives with his parents in a sugarcane estate barrack, a ramshackle building with a leaking roof that is home to four other families. On a hill above the village is the Changoor farm where Dalton Changoor and his wife Marlee live in comparative luxury and where Krishna’s father, Hansraj – known as Hans – works on the land. When Dalton disappears without explanation one day, Marlee feels uneasy about being alone and asks Hans to stay on the estate overnight as a night watchman – and Hans agrees, grateful for the extra money she offers him in return. But as the days go by with no sign of Dalton coming home, Hans finds himself becoming increasingly attracted to Marlee and spending less and less time with his own wife and son.

Kevin Jared Hosein uses the disappearance of Dalton Changoor to explore the stories of Hans and Marlee and also Krishna and his mother Shweta, left behind in their squalid home while Hans spends his nights on the farm. Shweta is dreaming of a better life and at first is happy for Hans to take Marlee’s money in the hope that they can use it to buy a house of their own, but she changes her mind as she discovers that her husband is slipping away from her. However, Marlee is only one part of the problem; the relationship between Shweta and Hans has already been strained by the death of their first child, the ‘hungry ghost’ of the title.

If you think this sounds like a bleak novel, that’s because it is. I found it relentlessly miserable. Everyone has had an unhappy childhood, an unhappy marriage or both. We see people being abused, assaulted, blackmailed, murdered…even the animals don’t escape unscathed; there are some very graphic descriptions of the death of Dalton Changoor’s abandoned dogs, so be warned. I don’t usually have a problem reading books that tackle uncomfortable or challenging subjects, but I do like there to be at least a glimmer of hope and optimism and this particular book didn’t seem to have any. I don’t think there was a single character in the book that I actually liked.

Although I struggled to cope with the misery and sadness, obviously other people have enjoyed this book much more than I did and I would agree that it’s beautifully written. Kevin Jared Hosein was born in Trinidad and brings his island to life through his descriptions of the landscape, the birds and animals, the food, clothing and housing. He also captures the language and the speech patterns of the Trinidadian people and through the story of the Saroop family, who are of Indian descent, he explores the differences between the Hindu and Christian communities on the island. I can understand why it was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize and the fact that I didn’t like it probably means it’s going to win!

Book 18/50 for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2024

My first book for this year’s 20 Books of Summer is also one of the shortlisted titles for the 2022 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The winner is going to be revealed at the Borders Book Festival on Friday 17th June, so I wanted to read this one before the announcement. It’s the second of the four titles on the shortlist that I’ve read – the other is the excellent Rose Nicolson; I am currently halfway through the third, The Magician, but am not sure if I’ll finish it in time, and I won’t get to the fourth one, News of the Dead, now either.

Anyway, Fortune is set in Trinidad in the 1920s and begins with a chance meeting between two men. One of them, Eddie Wade, has spent the last few years working in the US oilfields and has recently returned home, hoping to make his fortune on the island. He’s convinced that the land beneath Sonny Chatterjee’s cocoa plantation is rich in oil and is on the verge of persuading Sonny to let him start drilling when his truck breaks down on the road. Businessman Tito Fernandez stops to help and when he hears about Eddie’s project, he agrees to invest.

Soon Eddie and Tito are the best of friends and their trust in each other pays off when the oil begins to flow. However, as Eddie spends more and more time visiting the Fernandez family and becoming part of their social circle, he finds himself increasingly drawn to Tito’s beautiful wife, Ada – and the attraction is mutual.

The novel is inspired by a real event which took place in Trinidad in 1928, but I would recommend not looking it up before reading the book. Although I did eventually guess what was going to happen, I’m glad I didn’t know for certain as it would have taken away some of the impact of the story. The characters also seem to be loosely based on real people, but with different names and obviously with fictitious storylines created around the historical facts.

I can’t think of any other books I’ve read set in Trinidad and I’m ashamed to admit that it’s a place I know very little about, but Amanda Smyth, who is an Irish-Trinidadian author, brings it to life beautifully – the landscape, the plants and wildlife, the bustling streets of Port of Spain, and the cultures, beliefs and traditions of the Trinidadian people. At the time of our story, the island is going through a period of change; the cocoa trees that had formed such an important part of the economy are dying and new sources of income are needed. With the growing popularity of cars and planes, Trinidad’s oil boom comes at just the right time. Smyth does a wonderful job of portraying the ambition and greed of the various oil prospectors, the reluctance of Sonny Chatterjee to give up on his cocoa farming and allow drilling on his land, the fears of his wife Sita, who is mistrustful and suspicious of the whole business, and the excitement the characters feel when the first well is struck.

The tensions between the characters are also very well done; the relationship between Eddie and Ada develops slowly but once their affair begins they take so many risks it seems inevitable that Tito will find out and you wonder what will happen when he does. The personal stories of the characters play out against the backdrop of the oil rush, with all the different elements of the novel falling into place to build towards a dramatic conclusion. Although I still prefer Andrew Greig’s Rose Nicolson, this is an impressive novel too and while it hadn’t sounded very appealing to me at first, I can see now why the Walter Scott Prize judges decided to shortlist it.