Angel

by Merle Collins

Overview

Chronicling the events that took place in Grenada from 1951—when workers revolted against the white owners of the sugar and cocoa estates—to the U.S. invasion in 1983, this revised and expanded edition follows headstrong Angel and her mother Doodsie as they experience the deposition of the old, corrupted leadership with conflicted emotions. As their community struggles for independence, the political conflicts in Grenada tear long-term relationships apart, provoke fratricidal killings, and allow an outrageous breach of sovereignty. Seamlessly moving between these serious events and the warmth and tensions of family life, this celebrated novel offers an informed account of the revolution and a richly developed vernacular.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845231859
Publisher:	Peepal Tree Press Ltd.
Publication date:	10/15/2011
Series:	Caribbean Modern Classics
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Merle Collins is a professor of comparative literature and English at the University of Maryland. She is the author of Angel, Because the Dawn Breaks, The Colour of Forgetting, Rain Darling, and Rotten Pomerack. Her critical works have appeared in From My Guy to Sci-Fi: Genre and Women's Writing in the Postmodern World and Slavery and Abolition. Her literary work has appeared in Penguin Modern Poets Volume 8 and The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories.

Editorial Reviews

[Contains] a richness, a thickness, a stinging slangy that-there thingyness of observation and detail." —Robert Nye, Guardian

From the Publisher

This first novel by a Caribbean poet relates a familiar story: thanks to her mother's determination and sacrifices, the daughter of an impoverished provincial family receives a college education and returns to her family alienated by her inevitable politicization, her own growth mirroring the struggles of her country (in this case, Grenada) to gain political autonomy. What distinguishes this work is its lyrical rendering. Collins's characters think and speak in patois: `` `People like you an me so, the harder we work in people kitchen and in people lan, the more we kill weself out and bring riches, is the poorer we get while we sweat goin in other people pocket.' '' The initial strain imposed by the singular language quickly abates, and the technique enables the reader to share the perspectives of the protagonists and implicitly challenges the hegemony of ``standard'' English. In spite of the feminist and political themes, the characters are never reduced to mere mouthpieces; their dignity lies in their remaining conflicted even as they struggle with oppression. When America invades Grenada, the title character says, `` `We wrong. But that don make dem right.' '' The combination of artistry and objectivity will commend this book to many readers. (September)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Set on the Caribbean island of Grenada, this first novel vividly portrays the harshness of life in the Third World. It is centered on two women, Doodsie and her daughter Angel, whose lives are played out against the rise of a dictatorship and its overthrow by a socialist government, which led to the American invasion of the island. Angel escapes poverty through education but returns home to teach, entering the struggle against the dictatorship and eventually the American invaders. Although the West Indian dialect makes this book slow reading (a short glossary of terminology helps), perseverance is rewarded. An enthralling look at women's lives in a developing country; highly recommended. Christine King, SUNY at Stony Brook Lib.

Library Journal