Pynter Bender by Jacob Ross

Pynter Bender

Jacob Ross

An immensely powerful debut set in and around the cane fields of Grenada. Told through the eyes of Pynter Bender, it describes the development of a modern West Indian island as the people fight for a better way of life. You may find the passages told in local dialect tricky at first, but do persevere to engage fully with a rich colourful cast of characters dominated by the Bender women who are central figures in the compelling story.



Extract
Night was already settling like a fine coating of dust on the furthest slopes, but here where they stood on the summit of Top Hill, the last of the evening sun still left daubs of honey on leaves and bark and branches. They could see the foothills, and the villages encircling the hillside, and below them, the greying emptiness that had replaced the canes.
He pointed out to Peter all the places his brother already knew. Told him also what it was like beneath the gatherings of trees that hugged the hollows in the hillsides like the bunched hairs of an armpit; the overhangs of rocks and the far, fragmented patches of grey where the coconuts rose like tall upstanding brooms and swept the sky. He kept talking because he wanted to keep his brother distracted until the foreman's whistle came.
Parallels
  • Island Songs by Alex Wheatle
  • Duppies by Lloyd W Brown