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Minty Alley

A collection of rediscovered works celebrating Black Britain curated by Booker Prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo

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Minty Alley

By: C.L.R. James, Bernardine Evaristo - introduction
Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe, Bernardine Evaristo
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The only novel from the world-renowned writer C.L.R. James - this extraordinary, big-hearted exploration of class was the first novel by a black West Indian to be published in the UK

'As he walked home he looked up at the myriads of stars, shining in the moonlight. Did people live there? And if they did, what sort of life did they live?'

It is the 1920s in the Trinidadian capital, and Haynes' world has been upended. His mother has passed away, and his carefully mapped-out future of gleaming opportunity has disappeared with her.

Unable to afford his former life, he finds himself moving into Minty Alley - a bustling barrack yard teeming with energy and a spectacular cast of characters. In this sliver of West Indian working-class society, outrageous love affairs and passionate arguments are a daily fixture, and Haynes begins to slip from curious observer to the heart of the action.

Minty Alley is a gloriously observed portrayal of class, community and the ways in which we are all inherently connected. An undisputed modern classic, this is an exceptional story told by one of the twentieth century's greatest Caribbean thinkers.

© C.L.R. James 1936 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Americas Caribbean & West Indies Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Heartfelt

Critic Reviews

Minty Alley provides a rich literary rendering of working-class life in colonial Trinidad . . . its rediscovery and republication is an important event
Unforgettable . . . Groundbreaking (Sam Jordinson)
[Minty Alley] is funny, gossipy and meandering . . . James uses Haynes's shy silence as a space to be filled with each characters' rich backstory, creating a historical soap opera more often relayed directly in the characters' Trinidadian vernacular
In this novel, ordinary people - in this case primarily Caribbean women - display the extraordinary creativity and persistence in the face of life's challenges that's exemplary of Caribbean culture. It is near impossible to fully appreciate the artistic and political merits of James' later work without having read Minty Alley's vivid description of Trinidadian subaltern life
A novel written nearly a hundred years ago that brings the past alive with such charm, vitality and humour (Bernardine Evaristo)
Deservedly, James's work is undergoing a revival . . . The strength and value of the ordinary man is a through line in James's diverse body of work, and nowhere is this interest more evident than in Minty Alley
Light-hearted, comic, occasionally sobering, always engrossing, the novel is a lovely and captivating read (Bernadine Evaristo)
'Ground-breaking... [A] fictional masterpiece
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