A DEBT OF GRATITUDE, IN NO SMALL MEASURE, IS OWED TO MARGOT Francis, Aline Brault, Brenda Middagh, my brother-in-law, Shekhar Mahabir, and my brother Ramesh. My sister, Indrani Mootoo, braved the Naparima-Marayo Road and drove me into the trenches of Rio Claro. My memories of that complicated area — bucolic on one hand, treacherous on the other — include discovering with her, much awe between us, the forest, the cacao industry, the farmers, and, outside the scope of this book, the frightful surprise of foreign intelligence officers combing the area for drug and gun smuggling and underground militia camps. Thank you, Indrani, for our adventure. If it weren’t for Dr. Brinsley Samaroo and his enviable ease with, and knowledge of, the island, I wouldn’t have come so close to the cacao lands or met Bjashanand Hanooman. Thanks so much, Brinsley. At the time of the writing of this book, Hanooman was the agricultural officer for the Rio Claro area. I couldn’t have had a more perfect or generous guide. He and his wife, Lutchmin, spared no trouble, imagined what I didn’t know to ask, and gave me a fascinating introduction to the French-Indian world of cacao from which I drew. For this I am immensely grateful.
Thank you to Sarah MacLachlan, to everyone at House of Anansi Press, to book designer Ingrid Paulson, and to my agent, Maria Massie. Words are paltry to try to express the depth of my gratitude for my publisher and editor Lynn Henry, who, to understate it, always “gets it.”
With every good reason and no need for explanation, I would like to express very special thanks to Sarah Declerck.
Any resemblance of characters in this novel to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.