Last Cool Days

the long version

Set in colonial Trinidad, this powerfully intense novel explores the barriers between black and white in a highly stratified and racially demarcated society. Marcus is a young black village boy who gets fatefully attracted by the strangeness and the privileges of white children in his neighborhood and is befriended by the English overseer's son Anthony. The awkwardness and instability of this relationship in time reinforce his sense of insecurity and alienation, instilling in him an adult rage that leads ultimately to tragedy.