The White Woman on the Green Bicycle

An act of savage brutality opens this novel, which tells the story of one family living in Trinidad between 1956 and 2006. Among the last colonials from Britain to arrive, George and Sabine Harwood have been living in Trinidad for 50 years. George immediately fell in love with the island, while his wife constantly suffered from the heat, humidity, and political/racial situation there. The brutal living conditions of the great majority of the population are poignantly described; at one point, the son of Sabine Harwood's maid is brutally beaten by the police for complaining about their theft of his cell phone, an act that powerfully symbolizes the violence done to the native population over many decades. Told in a well-balanced manner, the rise to prime minister and eventual downfall of Eric Williams affects Sabine; she has a love/hate relationship with this Oxford-educated black man and writes him letters that are never mailed.