This book gives detailed maps of all marine areas from Olympia to Malcom Island. If you are boating these courses...these maps are a must! The book reports any dangerous obstacles that may lie in your path, as well as shows you the best course for your destination.

I read this novel about a year ago. Like all of Roy Heath's novels, it is a dark work. The slow deterioration of the protagonist Galton Flood into madness. The clomax when it comes is a surprise, but you realize that you should have seen all the signposts along the way. The author writes with an understanding of the dark places in the human spirit, and with considerable sympathy. This story will stay with you for a long time. It is a masterpiece.

Sony Armstrong is greedy, dishonest, a philanderer, a social climber, and a generally unpleasant person. His wife Gladys, who is better born, is dim, and more than a little superstitous. Their son Rohan the subject of the second part of the trilogy is self indulgent, and pays for it. The daughter Genetha the subject of the third part of the trilogy takes after her mother, but with everything amplified. All together you would avoid these people if you ever met them. Having said that, the novel does present a picture of British Guiana in the 1920's-1940's with all it's colonial and class related problems, which I found of great interest, and which I believe to be accurate. Having grown up in BG during that period, I was more than a little curious to read how someone else saw life there. I was not disappointed. Roy Heath did a fine job, I'm just sorry he didn't include a character that you could maybe like.

In brief, I picked up the first of these books about ten years ago after reading a review in the Christian Science Monitor. It literally changed my life. Heath's descriptions of life in Guyana delivered to my imagination the details of my Mother's childhood. These three books inspired me to travel to and eventually live in Guyana where I met the love of my life, my wife. During my travels, I was just as knowledgeable and often times more informed about the sociocultural history of this beautiful country and it wonderful people. Recommended for all of all ages.

In so may "developing" nations, the women are strong and keep things together. Guyana seems to be no exception. I believe it to be a rather sad book, with Kwaku being tossed around, not knowing why and having no grip on his destiny. Without Miss Gwendoline he would not have made it to the end of the book. But the description of his adventures are absolutely perfect and pantagruelish.

The book by Roy Heath set in the British Guyana in the early 20th century called the Shadow Bride is a fiction story depicting the life of immigrant Indians in a multiracial and multicultural society. It was interesting to read the cultural and traditional struggles of immigrants from India in a different country. The story line revolves around a rich widow Mrs. Singh, who undergoes a metamorphosis after her husband's death. She emerges from his shadow as a whole new person with rebelliousness towards her previous image, by changing her dressing style, associations and relationships with people in order to gain power and control of a household. She cannot let go of her son Betta, a doctor, in pursuit of his goal to work as a medical officer amongst poor sugar plantation workers. The mother is suffering from an empty- nest syndrome and tries to fill her house with workers, their families and others to ward off her loneliness, which slowly engulfs her completely. The son, after breaking off his ties to the house and his mother gives up a life of comfort and security to work for poor and needy. He in turn has to struggle a great deal. He is a good doctor, but fails to see the mental suffering and loneliness of his mother, who always felt in exile in Guyana. A delicate web of interrelationships of various characters is woven with each other and with the society portraying how imminent and dependent they all are on each other for their very survival. The different cultures, languages, religions create an identity crisis amongst some of the Guyanaese Indians. The end leaves a powerful impression in the mind that haunts you for a long time after finishing the book. I found it impressive that the writer maintained my interest till the very last page, which I felt, was the climax of the story. Roy Heath has used a lyrical prose, nature pigdin English to make it sound very real. Despite its simple language, the writing is powerful, bold , vivid and mentally stimulating

Roy Heath is a nice writer. He probably made so much unexpected money on "Kwaku" that he thought:"What the heck, let's continue this". Washed out and no good.