A story of shanty-town life in Trinidad. Calvary Hill is the home of Aldrick Prospect, who lives for the carnival and his once-a-year chance to play dragon. Here too live Miss Cleothilda, the ageing carnival queen, Philo the Calypsonian, and Fisheye, who flaunts his strength in the steel bands.

Exposing the political and cultural failure to address the challenges of postcolonial Trinidad, this insightful novel portrays a world where the working man must face the crime and violence that is destroying the social body. Walter Castle is dissatisfied with his regular job in the Laventille slum in Port of Spain. As the prospect of promotion is bleak and crime and lawless youth become insupportable, he dreams of going back to the village community he grew up in. Unfortunately, the force of nostalgia is not supported by actual memories and as Walter abandons his dreams he is forced to...