Young Ladies of Good Family

YOUNG LADIES OF GOOD FAMILY is a puzzle portrait of the Willie family, stalwarts of the sparse white gentry of a former French Caribbean colony.



Every chapter functions independently as a short story. These range in content from slice-of-life vignettes to rueful reminiscences.



The book's overall tone is one of reverence and nostalgia for the past, sprinkled with piercing wit and humor.



One enjoys a refreshingly different world: the flip side of the Caribbean's colorful exuberance, such as the stillness of its evenings, its deep and almost mystical respect for family and tradition, and its spiritual life.



Sit back and relax. Allow yourself to be transported into the lives of one of the Caribbean minority white families, whose island country is one of the poorest and most undeveloped in the world, yet also one of the richest in optimism, adaptability, and sheer joie de vivre.



Journey to a place where a washing machine becomes a man-eating devil, churches are jammed with singing worshipers during the day, pounding voodoo drums are heard at night, and a family of squids can be seen through the crystal clear sea water, languidly, hanging-out.



Once you have read this book, you will see your own world with new, far more appreciative eyes. Yet at the same time, you will feel a tiny, nagging, urge to step back into the magical land you just left behind.



"Very few natives are able to happily adjust to living off island. I am one of them, yet my heart aches for my homeland far more often than I care to admit." Anne Marie du Bois de Chêne