Part fiction and part history lesson I found this a really interesting read - and would be interested to read more by this author.

I liked the premise of this book, but I found Winnie a bit annoying and her relentless pursuit of George a bit cringy. She does do well at pulling you into the location and making you feel as if you can really picture it, but Winnie and her relentlessness just irritated me so much that I had to force myself to read to the end.

A coming of age of story of a girl torn between her being a privileged white lary born to wealth and a seemingly impossible love to a black young man.

I value this novel to show me the harsh life and conditions of less privileged - pracically a slavery - of Eastern Indian people living under intenditure in British Guayana. The authoress is gifted with words and is able to show the beloved beauty of the land and its painful history. Yet - I was not able to relate to the characters emotionally. Winnie´s character is just impossible - while I admire her spunk, I am also quite annoyed with her stubborn naivety and relentless, almost selfish pursuit of her and her goals. Also the love between her and George is truly unrealistic - they exchange few some looks at each other and it is love for life? Luckily, everybody else is smart with their advices and Winnie is able to move from pampered princess to a working girl (while it seems fairy-taley easy, I able to believe at least that process, if I not believe in stability of the love story).
This is obviously a start of the trilogy, so maybe we will see some more maturity and growth. Fingers crossed for the characters and for the strength of the story!

Trying to clear my shelfs, sorry that I haven't read and reviewed this one yet but my reading habits have changed. Although I may review at a later date when I'm looking for a different read