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A Kind of Eden
Martin Rawlinson is a stranger in a strange land, an Englishman in Trinidad, and he is relishing it. He has asked for his temporary consultancy position with the Trinidad police to be made permanent, and is hoping to start a new life with the beautiful Safiya, and perhaps grow to understand this intoxicating, troubled country. His only problem is breaking the news to his wife, Miriam, and daughter, Georgia.While Martin has found a new life in the Caribbean, Miriam counts down the months to his return, aware of, but not understanding, the growing distance between them. She and Georgia escape the English winter to visit Martin, and - Miriam hopes - to reclaim him. The week that follows will change everything, but not in the way any of them planned: they will learn how close paradise is to hell. A mesmerising, claustrophobic novel that illustrates how fragile the ties that bind can be, Amanda Smyth immerses us in a moral dilemma with no answer - how can you forgive yourself for compromising what you love most?
288 pages, Paperback
First published July 11, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 15, 2013
Amanda's second novel, after Black Rock (called Lime Tree Don't Bear Orange in America). This one's also set in Trinidad and Tobago, but very different. She's in my writer's group, and has brought along chapters, but haven't read it all yet. Comes out in summer - looking forward to it.
July 4th: Went to the launch last night at Waterstones in Leamington (a bigger launch in London next week). A great night.
July 12th: OK, I think this is 4 and a bit stars, but because she's my mate, I've rounded up to 5.. review coming..
July 15th, here it is:
The main protagonist, Martin, is a senior policeman who, after redundancy in the UK, reluctantly gets a job as police advisor in Trinidad to keep his middle class family in the style to which they have become accustomed (eg to pay Georgia’s £15,000 school fees). He is appalled by the corruption and laziness he finds within the force there, but he begins to adjust to life on the islands (walking barefoot for example), then falls in love with the place and a much younger woman, Safiya. He plans to tell his wife and leave her and settle with Safiya, but during a visit by his family a terrible incident occurs which changes everything. He becomes a victim of crime and a victim of the same police incompetence he is trying to stamp out. He is hard to like, but realistic as are all the other characters here. Your sympathy – naturally perhaps – is with his wife (how he denigrates her – her pear shape for example, or the fact that she has lost her moisture. She carries a dry quality like bread when it is old) and especially with his poor daughter Georgia. They are all mourning the death of Georgia’s sister Beth who died from an aneurysm, and this has changed the dynamic of the family, made them a sad one.
The book is beautifully written, with a smooth style reminiscent of USA greats (Richard Ford comes to mind), if marred slightly with occasional cliché (of the white as milk type), and repetition (the protagonist is overwhelmed with sadness more than a couple of times). The themes of exposure (from the simple, exposure to the heat, bodies shedding clothes and people inhibitions to the more complicated - a different way of life/thinking), and leaving/rejection (People abandon Trinidad all the time. Parents send their children abroad…) are well handled. The sensuous prose conjures up the sounds and sights and smells of the Caribbean, the stores and diet (Kentucky Fried Chicken often), the villages and wildlife,(There are two small concrete houses; a cow is tied to a mango tree, its horns white and long, the beige skin stretched over its skeleton. A white bird sits on its head which is covered in flies.) the hills and beaches. Above all the enormous indifferent sky dominated by sun and moon, changing colour at twilight and dawn, soft low rays cutting through the trees, or pitch black. With this background the narrative slowly grips as tension builds to a nailbiting central set piece which doesn’t let the reader go until you are wrung out. The aftermath from this is one of frustration (on behalf of the characters not the reader) and realisation as Martin does change, is forced to, although he remains realistically stubborn.
Although not without flaws, this is a terrific piece of work.
July 4th: Went to the launch last night at Waterstones in Leamington (a bigger launch in London next week). A great night.
July 12th: OK, I think this is 4 and a bit stars, but because she's my mate, I've rounded up to 5.. review coming..
July 15th, here it is:
The main protagonist, Martin, is a senior policeman who, after redundancy in the UK, reluctantly gets a job as police advisor in Trinidad to keep his middle class family in the style to which they have become accustomed (eg to pay Georgia’s £15,000 school fees). He is appalled by the corruption and laziness he finds within the force there, but he begins to adjust to life on the islands (walking barefoot for example), then falls in love with the place and a much younger woman, Safiya. He plans to tell his wife and leave her and settle with Safiya, but during a visit by his family a terrible incident occurs which changes everything. He becomes a victim of crime and a victim of the same police incompetence he is trying to stamp out. He is hard to like, but realistic as are all the other characters here. Your sympathy – naturally perhaps – is with his wife (how he denigrates her – her pear shape for example, or the fact that she has lost her moisture. She carries a dry quality like bread when it is old) and especially with his poor daughter Georgia. They are all mourning the death of Georgia’s sister Beth who died from an aneurysm, and this has changed the dynamic of the family, made them a sad one.
The book is beautifully written, with a smooth style reminiscent of USA greats (Richard Ford comes to mind), if marred slightly with occasional cliché (of the white as milk type), and repetition (the protagonist is overwhelmed with sadness more than a couple of times). The themes of exposure (from the simple, exposure to the heat, bodies shedding clothes and people inhibitions to the more complicated - a different way of life/thinking), and leaving/rejection (People abandon Trinidad all the time. Parents send their children abroad…) are well handled. The sensuous prose conjures up the sounds and sights and smells of the Caribbean, the stores and diet (Kentucky Fried Chicken often), the villages and wildlife,(There are two small concrete houses; a cow is tied to a mango tree, its horns white and long, the beige skin stretched over its skeleton. A white bird sits on its head which is covered in flies.) the hills and beaches. Above all the enormous indifferent sky dominated by sun and moon, changing colour at twilight and dawn, soft low rays cutting through the trees, or pitch black. With this background the narrative slowly grips as tension builds to a nailbiting central set piece which doesn’t let the reader go until you are wrung out. The aftermath from this is one of frustration (on behalf of the characters not the reader) and realisation as Martin does change, is forced to, although he remains realistically stubborn.
Although not without flaws, this is a terrific piece of work.
July 22, 2013
First of all, Amanda belongs to my writing group, which makes the whole star-rating thing a complete minefield.
If I didn't know the writer, hadn't read chapters from an earlier draft, and had not attended the launch, I would probably have read the book as an enjoyably disturbing thriller with an 'exotic' setting.
However knowing something about the author and her intentions meant that I became more deeply engaged in the depictions of Trinidad and Tobago. On the one hand the islands are beautiful and can exert a powerful fascination over somebody who wants to escape from England. On the other hand, life there can be limited, harsh, corrupt.
The novel is strongly dramatic. While the opening chapters may seem measured - almost leisurely - almost imperceptibly the momentum gathers. As we approach the end, events start to unfold at a nightmarish pace.
I was left feeling that there is some classically tragic about this piece. More than anything else it is about choice and morality. The hero Martin (like Oedipus?) wants to escape his past and start again. Our individualistic society is wedded to a belief that such new starts are possible. However it seems as though each attempt to distance himself from an unhappy marriage - and from the experience of loss - takes Martin one step closer to confronting his own dreadful weakness.
If I didn't know the writer, hadn't read chapters from an earlier draft, and had not attended the launch, I would probably have read the book as an enjoyably disturbing thriller with an 'exotic' setting.
However knowing something about the author and her intentions meant that I became more deeply engaged in the depictions of Trinidad and Tobago. On the one hand the islands are beautiful and can exert a powerful fascination over somebody who wants to escape from England. On the other hand, life there can be limited, harsh, corrupt.
The novel is strongly dramatic. While the opening chapters may seem measured - almost leisurely - almost imperceptibly the momentum gathers. As we approach the end, events start to unfold at a nightmarish pace.
I was left feeling that there is some classically tragic about this piece. More than anything else it is about choice and morality. The hero Martin (like Oedipus?) wants to escape his past and start again. Our individualistic society is wedded to a belief that such new starts are possible. However it seems as though each attempt to distance himself from an unhappy marriage - and from the experience of loss - takes Martin one step closer to confronting his own dreadful weakness.
July 20, 2022
A great fast-paced read. The book is set in a time and place in Trinidad that I remember - the restaurants...clubs and the prevailing attitude at the time formed part of a more affluent Trini past of the 2000s up to 2014 and Amanda captures the vibes immaculately . I really believe that the author had extensive interaction with law enforcement because she captured the typical characters really well including the grudges locals have towards outsiders, particularly, whites - a hangover from a colonial past. She also did not miss a single beat in character development even though the book is a fairly short one. It's common over here for expats to have a few local girls in their orbit , floozies biding their time for a visa in hopes of a "better" life. This is a great book I would recommend to a foreigner (white) who is from overseas and would like to get an idea of the prevailing attitudes on the island . The book sort of reminds me of another book ,Golden Child by Claire Adam, in that it touches on the crime on the island particularly kidnappings. This book is a hidden gem and I would recommend to the Trini/ uk book community . 4/5 stars . Can't wait to read Black Rock!
July 30, 2017
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I read it for my book club, and it is not a book I would have chosen to read, I ended up reading it in 2 days. It gives an insight into life in Trinidad and Tobago, but it is not a Caribbean paradise. I have no desire to visit any time soon. The book was easy to read, and I was hooked from the first page.
December 29, 2025
I liked this mainly on account of the setting - Trinidad and Tobago, of which I knew precious little before reading this, and learnt a lot about life in these islands. Its a tragic love story, a detective story, a travelogue, a study in human nature. Three and a half stars
January 22, 2019
I agree w another review that this is definitely not a relaxing book to read! Disutr
Disturbing yes and asks a lot of questions about the expat experience and how we look at other countries.
Disturbing yes and asks a lot of questions about the expat experience and how we look at other countries.
August 3, 2023
Slow book but by the end I found I enjoyed it.
Certainly out me off visiting Tinidad & Tobago!
Sad, a bit depressing but so is life sometimes.
Certainly out me off visiting Tinidad & Tobago!
Sad, a bit depressing but so is life sometimes.
September 29, 2023
So good. I want to read everything this woman writes.
July 22, 2017
I read this for my book club. I had never heard of it until my friend chose it because she used to live in Trinidad. Well, thank God she no longer lives there! I had no idea just how violent the crimes are and frankly, just how lawless it appears to be. I think a lot of the extra murders mentioned are added for the shock factor, but it was an education in that sense. I really enjoyed the writing style and found it a quick read. I'm glad I've read this, it gave a very real insight into expat life there, and will read this authors other book too.
March 19, 2016
The story of Martin Rawlinson takes its time to develop to becoming a thriller, but at the same time there is an undercurrent of unease as you read - there is just something not quite right, and the writer brings this unease in a clever way. This could certainly make one question travelling to some places which have the tropical allure, but which may not operate their essential services such as health and police in as effective ways as it is assumed they would at home.
October 3, 2015
The blurb says this is a compelling thriller. Well nothing happens for the first 100 pages, then there's about 70 pages of excitement followed by another chunk of dullness and then the last 50 pages are ok.
January 17, 2015
Well written family drama, but a fairly tense read. Does not paint Trinidad and Tobago in a good light in terms of crime.
August 5, 2015
Read with patience and you'll enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews