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Publishers Weekly Review

Winner of the Dominican Republic National Award for the best novel in 1997, this book investigates the development of the sugar cane industry in the Dominican Republic during the early 20th century. The industry relied heavily on immigrant labor from black workers in the nearby British Islands. These workers, whose native language was English, were called "Coc¢los" (a derogatory term referring to coconuts) by Dominican natives and suffered brutal discrimination. Stanley weaves a vivid and painful story through multiple narratives about the life of el abuelo (the grandfather), an immigrant worker from Nevis who worked on various sugar plantations in San Pedro de Macoris and La Romana in the Dominican Republic from 1932 to 1972. Stanley's descriptions are deeply touching, as when el abuelo describes a small village as "at most eight to ten small houses of old and tired wood." Recommended as a multicultural work for academic and large public libraries. Ketty Rodriguez, Sch. of Lib. and Information Science, Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved