The Moon Is Following Me

Book excerpt: This collection of short stories recalls an era when the village was the centre of life in the Caribbean island of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Nostalgic, but not sentimental, these stories are based on real events and relate the experiences of a range of characters striving to make a name for themselves; they are people in search of a larger stage.The title story, The Moon is Following Me, paints a picture of school life as it was in the seventies. It features a headmaster who is fond of rum and a teacher who works for half a day only, but it is essentially a story of young love and hope. Take for Two relates the story of Archie, who, on the night he is leaving on a contract to America, is asked by his sweetheart for a ‘special dress’ as a present. When he returns three months later with a wedding dress, he is met with disappointment.Spanish Ladies is based on the murder of a 17-year-old by a preacher. Even now, from this distance, it is painful to recall. The fourth story tells of an unlikely love, brought about by music, and the final story, Taste For Freedom, is an attempt to recreate the early years after the Emancipation.The stories are at times funny and unsettling but rarely sad. These are ‘real’ people, individual, ambitious, mad, vengeful, naïve: they are like villagers everywhere.