Call it a masquerade or rather a prose calypso. A novel full of life, rooted in the shifting slums of the hills overlooking Port of Spain. The cast of characters is deeply drawn out, the humour of street life, the spirit of a neighbourhood, the ups and down of the young and old, the encroaching of commerce seductive as always and a clash with an irredentist spirit of rebellion. A calypso never shies away from wit, romance or politics, it comes from poverty and a culture of resilience. Lilting social commentary from Trinidad.