Minty Alley

C.L.R. James (Author) C. L. R. James was born in Trinidad in 1901 and was one of the prominent figures in the West Indian diaspora. He was a writer socialist and pioneering voice in literature. He wrote extensively on Caribbean history Marxist theory literary criticism Western civilisation African politics cricket and popular culture. His works include World Revolution The Black Jacobins Beyond a Boundary and his only novel Minty Alley. He died in 1989.Bernardine Evaristo (Introducer) Bernardine Evaristo MBE is the awardwinning author of eight books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora. Her novel Girl Woman Other made her the first black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019 as well winning the Fiction Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 2020 where she also won Author of the Year and the Indie Book Award. She also became the first woman of colour and black British writer to reach No.1 in the UK paperback fiction chart in 2020.Minty Alley provides a rich literary rendering of workingclass life in colonial Trinidad . . . its rediscovery and republication is an important eventUnforgettable . . . Groundbreaking[Minty Alley] is funny gossipy and meandering . . . James uses Hayness shy silence as a space to be filled with each characters rich backstory creating a historical soap opera more often relayed directly in the characters Trinidadian vernacularIn this novel ordinary people in this case primarily Caribbean women display the extraordinary creativity and persistence in the face of lifes challenges thats exemplary of Caribbean culture. It is near impossible to fully appreciate the artistic and political merits of James later work without having read Minty Alleys vivid description of Trinidadian subaltern lifeA novel written nearly a hundred years ago that brings the past alive with such charm vitality and humourDeservedly Jamess work is undergoing a revival . . . The strength and value of the ordinary man is a through line in Jamess diverse body of work and nowhere is this interest more evident than in Minty AlleyLighthearted comic occasionally sobering always engrossing the novel is a lovely and captivating readGroundbreaking... [A] fictional masterpieceThe book should be read by everyone who wishes to learn about early Caribbean life and who would like a deeper understanding of this author of masterpiecesThe only novel from the worldrenowned writer C.L.R. James this extraordinary bighearted exploration of class was the first novel by a black West Indian to be published in the UKA novel written nearly a hundred years ago that brings the past alive with such charm vitality and humour. Bernardine Evaristo from the Introduction As he walked home he looked up at the myriads of stars shining in the moonlight. Did people live there? And if they did what sort of life did they live? It is the 1920s in the Trinidadian capital and Haynes wor