Amanda Smyth – författare

Eddie Wade has recently returned from the US oilfields. He is determined to sink his own well and make his fortune in the 1920s Trinidad oil-rush. His sights are set on Sonny Chatterjee''s failing cocoa estate, Kushi, where the ground is so full of oil you can put a stick in the ground and see it bubble up. When a fortuitous meeting with businessman Tito Fernandez brings Eddie the investor he desperately needs, the three men enter into a partnership. A friendship between Tito and Eddie begins that will change their lives forever, not least when the oil starts gushing. But their partnership also brings Eddie into contact with Ada, Tito''s beautiful wife, and as much as they try, they cannot avoid the attraction they feel for each other.Fortune, based on true events, catches Trinidad at a moment of historical change whose consequences reverberate down to present concerns with climate change and environmental destruction. As a story of love and ambition, its focus is on individuals so enmeshed in their desires that they blindly enter the territory of classic Greek tragedy where actions always have consequences.

This powerful novel in stories follows its young narrator, growing up in a divided family. Shifting between Trinidad, England, and Ireland, she must learn to make sense of herself, and take her place in a world full of contradictions, cruelty and temptation. Look At You grabs the attention elegantly, with sharp dialogue, acuteness of observation, and the joy of meeting complex characters. The frank and engaging narrator, recognising the independent otherness of the people she writes about, has an alert eye for moments of epiphany, absurdity, sadness and comedy.''Amanda Smyth writes like a descendant of Jean Rhys...a born novelist'' ALI SMITH''Smyth''s writing is as lushly beautiful as the landscape she describes'' THE TIMES''Like Alice Walker, Smyth vividly and empathetically re-creates gender and racial tensions'' ELLE MAGAZINE''Hypnotic and heartbreaking... this may be Amanda Smyth''s best book yet.'' PAUL MURRAY

Celia''s mother died bringing her into the world - when one soul flies in, another flies out, her aunt Tassi says. So she lives in Black Rock, Tobago, with her cousins and Tassi''s second husband Roman, a man so sly he could crawl under a snake''s belly on stilts. Celia thinks he''s the devil, so when he does something that proves her right, she runs away to Trinidad and a new life in service.

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?