Redlegs

by Chris Dolan

Elspeth, a young Scottish actress, is selected by the elusive impresario Lord Coak for an acting career on the Caribbean Island of Barbados. She is briefly feted by the island community, but a tempest kills her lover and destroys the theatre in which she was to star. She is obliged to take on a supposedly temporary and fairly ambiguous role at Lord Coak's plantation home. The closed environment of the estate is stifling, but it institutionalizes her and gives her a degree of status. Dolan's plot is full of unexpected twists but they never free Elspeth from the constrictions of working for an enterprise whose founding principle is racism. It is a world in which there is an oppressive sense of eventlessness. Clearly Lord Coak s grand plan to modernize the estate cannot be implemented without social reform, but the resulting suspension of lives is also perhaps the human condition: our dreams can never be realized. Another catastrophic event breaks the spell and divides the community, many of whom leave in search of a more enlightened society and in so doing become a mythical people. However Elspeth and the reader remain locked into Lord Coak's estate, which starts to decay its shipwrecked people.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[!Tæmbuŝu]

KOBOBOOKS

Reviewed by The Independent (12 Jul 2012)

[Vagabond Voices · Rating 5 out of 5]

“[Redlegs is] an engrossing and compelling novel. The picture of island life is vivid, the characterisation of the principal personages convincing, the elaboration of the narrative moving. As in many really good novels, there are small scenes which stick in the memory,…” – The Scotsman

“Dolan expertly captures the overpowering heat of the island and – Roseneythe being a hard place to live piously – the earthiness and resilience of the Scots women transplanted to another continent, never to see their homes again. And he’s done it in beautiful, rich prose that evokes a place, a sense of time and the beat of Elspeth Baillie’s heart.” – Sunday Herald

“This is a powerful, disturbing tale, written with scrupulous care both for words and their hidden meanings, and for the history of men and women forced to live and work for a doomed, immoral cause.” – The Independent

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an exciting book set in the Caribbean, very different for me. I liked the characters and the effect of the environment on them. Character development was great but full of surprises!