It's a shame that the Caribbean Writers Series is out of print, for if the other 34 titles are like this, the world is at a loss. The sophomore effort from Jamaican author Mais, Brother Man embodies the best of modern literture of the immediate post-war era. Fundamentally a tale of good over evil, of piety over wickedness, the novel is lyrical, with characters and storylines interweaving like solos in jazz. Mais' style has an openness to it that - to further the jazz reference - is like third-stream jazz, where the silences are as important as the notes, allowing the imagination to flesh out what Mais has left unsaid. And as a bonus for the reggae fan, the lead character is a Rasta. Well worth searching out.

Roger Mais' novel laid the groundwork for other experimentation within the novel form and broke the mold of West Indian fiction with a Rasta protagonist. Good and evil, Sin and Redemption are localized and riffed on by the alternating characters. A breakthrough novel.