Sugar Money

Jane Harris Faber & Faber €18.20

If Harris had got the narrative voice right, this could have been a superb yarn, infused with the spirit of Robert Louis Stevenson. It is set in the Caribbean in the late 18th century and tells the story of Lucien, a French boy who is sent from Martinique to Grenada to help free some slaves being held by the dastardly English, or ‘Goddams’. Adventure follows adventure, there is some fine descriptive writing, and a plucky young heroine adds to the fun. Unfortunately, the story is delivered in a hit-and-miss Creole patois that never quite has the ring of truth