A State of Independence - Softcover

Phillips, Caryl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0679759301 ISBN 13: 9780679759300

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1995

Synopsis

Phillips examines the transitions of a Caribbean nation from colonialism to a dubious state of independence through the experiences of Bertram Francis, a young man who leaves St. Kitts at the age of thirteen to study law on a coveted scholarship in England. Twenty years later he returns, chastened by failure, hoping to succeed at “something that doesn't make me dependent upon the white man.” The rejections Francis faced in England are nothing to those that greet him in his homeland, where the resentments of the people he abandoned are exceeded only by the cynicism of the old friends who have prospered under the new regime.

About this title

About the Author:

Caryl Phillips was born in St. Kitts, West Indies, and brought up in England. He is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction. His novel Dancing in the Dark won the 2006 PEN/Beyond Margins Award, and an earlier novel, A Distant Shore, won the 2004 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. His other awards include the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and currently lives in New York.

From Library Journal:

Bertram Francis left St. Kitts as a boy to study law in England. Now, 20 years later, he returns home, expecting a triumphant welcome from family and friends. But things quickly go awry: he sweats profusely in his English shirt and tie, feels cramped in his mother's tiny shack, discovers that the beer is much more potent than it used to be, and in general has a hard time convincing anyone that he's a native. What's worse, his mother is furious with him for never bothering to write, the "best friend" whom he hopes will find him a job denies that they were ever friends, and his former girlfriend seems to expect him to marry her. Phillips doesn't break any new ground in this short novel, and his prose style is competent but not exactly inspired. Suitable mainly for larger collections of Caribbean literature. Edward B. St. John, Loyola Marymount Univ. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0679759301
• ISBN 13: 9780679759300
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160