One of the few examples of Anglophone Spanish Caribbean magical realism, this novel follows the journey of a literary figurist, Leon-Battista Mondaal. He is traveling in an ethnographic team sent to record the annual masquerade held Christmas Eve in the east coast villages of Guyana when disaster strikes. This natural disaster not only destroys the region, population, and crew, but also Leon-Battista’s memory. He is left to dually recall and construct his identity. Questioning the hegemony of recorded history, this story develops a striking contrast between time and experience.
Andrew Jefferson-Miles is a poet, artist, and researcher working at the University of North London. A native of Guyana, he now lives in London.