Cliff and Ossi have grown up in Plymouth on the island of Tobago, surrounded by urban poverty and drug abuse. One day they are invited to the "flim-style house" of Bella and Peter, a wealthy vacationing couple who offer temporary harbor from the harshness of the city streets. At first, the friendship appears an unlikely but uncomplicated connection between human beings, but when Cliff, Peter and Bella embark on a menage-a-trois relationship, difficulties arise.

I wanted to love this book. From the opening description of the sea, written in a perfect Caribbean dialect, I felt immersed into the lush blue-and-green world of Tobago. Cliff's first person narration, though challenging to read, created a unique, believable and wonderfully observant character. I loved his dialect so much that I sometimes read it out loud to myself. But about halfway through the novel, it became obvious that this book wasn't on a clear course. The point of view switches over to Bella, a two-dimensional character whose thoughts and dialect are not as rich as Cliff's. Italicized stream-of-consciousness ramblings are difficult to understand and serve no purpose in the story. The author doesn't seem to know what to do with the complex relationship she's created or the questions it raises, so the book suddenly jolts to a stop with a surprise ending that doesn't play fair with the earlier characterization of Cliff. The book left me feeling cheated at the end, and I doubt that I will read more of this author's work. ( )

Story about a poor family in Tobago that gets connected to a wealthy British family. Great for whowing first world-third world differences, but plot hard to follow at times and made difficult by strong dialect. ( )