In 1988, the artist and keen cook Thomas Brown decided to try and eke out a teacher's pension on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. He planned initially to stay with Kath, an elderly civil servant in need of some help, and hoped to buy a rum shop. During his time there, he made friends with people from all strata of the Island (he preferred the capital letter), including Red Madge the local prostitute, and Chantal, who worked for Radio Antilles, proposed marriage, and mysteriously drowned. Lack of money and Kath's ill health drove him back to England, but he always hoped to return. When he...