Austin Clarke - Free Library Land Online - Humor

Storm of Fortune

Wed, 02 Dec 1998 22:26:07 +0200

"The West Indians' primitive vitality and humanity in Storm of Fortune is rendered in ... some of the most delightful dialogue to see print in many a long year." -Library Journal

Where the Sun Shines Best

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 17:21:42 +0200

Three Canadian soldiers awaiting deployment to Afghanistan beat a homeless man to death on the steps of their armoury after a night of heavy drinking. The poet, whose downtown Toronto home overlooks the armoury and surrounding park, describes the crime, its perpetrators, the victim, and a cast of homeless witnesses that includes the woman, a prostitute, who first alerts police. The subsequent trial evokes reflection on the immigrant experience the poet shares with one of the accused, and on the agony of that young soldier's mother. From Kandahar to Bridgetown to Mississauga, Ontario, Where the Sun Shines Best encompasses a tragedy of epic scope, a lyrical meditation on poverty, racism and war, and a powerful indictment of the ravages of imperialism.

They Never Told Me

Fri, 13 Nov 1992 19:48:11 +0200

The Bigger Light

Wed, 11 Nov 1998 21:44:57 +0200

This is Austin Clarke's acclaimed trilogy about a group of West Indian domestics, their friends, lovers, spouses, and employers living in Toronto. In rich, exuberant language, Clarke illuminates a world inhabited by earthy, garrulous, but terribly isolated people, all living, working and struggling with the alien, White, Canadian culture. Dominated by warm, superbly drawn characters and capped by vibrant, unerring dialogue, The Toronto Trilogy is a devastating and brilliant commentary on the quest for success in North America, and it established Austin Clarke as a major Canadian writer.

The Meeting Point

Fri, 13 Nov 1998 16:05:49 +0200

This is the first book in Austin Clarke's acclaimed trilogy about a group of West Indian domestics, their friends, lovers, spouses and employers living in Toronto. In rich, exuberant language, the novel illuminates the world of Bernice Leach, a Barbadian woman, working in the infamous 'Canadian Domestic Scheme' as a live-in maid. Oddly situated in the employ of the Burrmanns, a wealthy Jewish-Canadian couple, Bernice becomes privy to some household secrets which serve both she and her friend Dots with cause for amusement and outrage. And when Bernice's sister Estelle comes over, apparently on holiday from Barbados, her stay has first comic, then tragic results.

The Meeting Point is a poignant study of the clashes, tensions and sheer comedy resulting from the confrontation of opposing lifestyles and cultures. Set in the 1950s, the novel brilliantly captures a portrait of a vital city as a it faces, for the first time, a significant black immigrant presence upon its...

The Austin Clarke Library

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:44:57 +0200

This is a special pairing of two books by renowned literary storyteller Austin Clarke. In The Polished Hoe, winner of the Giller Prize and the 2003 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, when an elderly Bimshire village woman calls the police to confess to a murder, the result is a shattering all-night vigil that brings together elements of the African diaspora in one epic sweep. Set on the post-colonial West Indian island of Bimshire in 1952, The Polished Hoe unravels over the course of 24 hours but spans the lifetime of one woman and the collective experience of a society informed by slavery. Choosing His Coffin is a selection of Clarke's finest work from more than 40 years of storytelling, drawing on his Caribbean roots and his years in Canada. These stories range in theme from growing up in West Indian society and what it means to be black in both the United States and Canada to surviving as an immigrant in a predominantly Anglo-Saxon culture.

In this City

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:46:20 +0200

The Polished Hoe

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 16:38:59 +0200

When an elderly Bimshire village woman calls the police to confess to a murder, the result is a shattering all-night vigil that brings together elements of the African diaspora in one epic sweep. Set on the post-colonial West Indian island of Bimshire in 1952, "The Polished Hoe" unravels over the course of 24 hours but spans the lifetime of one woman and the collective experience of a society informed by slavery. As the novel opens, Mary Mathilda is giving confession to Sargeant, a police officer she has known all her life. The man she claims to have murdered is Mr. Belfeels, the village plantation owner for whom she has worked for more than thirty years. Mary has also been Mr. Belfeels' mistress for most of that time and is the mother of his only son, Wilbeforce, a successful doctor. What transpires through Mary's words and recollections is a deep meditation about the power of memory and the indomitable strength of the human spirit. Infused with Joycean overtones, this is a literary masterpiece that evokes the sensuality of the tropics and the tragic richness of Island culture.

The Origin of Waves

Thu, 13 Nov 2003 16:18:04 +0200