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Photograph - William Hearle

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Ballad for the New World

Including the prize-winning story The House of Funerals

Tales of thwarted desires, repressed passions and betrayals evoke a troubled Caribbean paradise. The legacy of a cruel history haunts this new world society. Individuals are consumed by their own emotions and confused by the shifting ground of their own cultures.

With a blend of pathos and ironic humour, Lawrence Scott describes life in this fallen Eden, where both the melancholic and the extravagant play their part.

Critical Essays

Jacob, Debbie. 1994 Short Stories to Sweep You Away. Express T&T July 28 1994.

Jardim, Keith. 1994 When Cocoa Was King. Trinidad & Tobago Review Christmas 1994. The Caribbean Writer Vol 9 1995. Caribbean Writer Online.

Lee, Simon. 1994, Balladeer of the New World. Sunday Guardian T&T August 14th 1994.

Markham, Archie 1996 Introduction: The Penguin Book of Caribbean Short Stories, Penguin Books.

Mordecai Ramsay, Rachel. 1996, The Carnival Tales of Lavren Monagas: A Discussion of Religion, Sexuality and Community in the Fiction of Lawrence Scott, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, Department of Literatures in English.

Raymond, Judy. 1994, Scott Pays His Dues, Sunday Express T&T August 14, 1994, p5.

Reviews

The prose is economical and beautifully veined with émigré melancholy- virtually all the stories are haunted by the pain of emigration and return. Yet Scott’s writing is far from dreary; it is full of light and promise. Robin Blake - The Independent on Sunday

Lawrence Scott’s stories are a carnival for the senses, conjuring up the images , the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the not-so innocence of childhood and the ambiguities of relationships in a society in the throes of reinventing itself. Margaret Busby

Lawrence Scott builds his story layer by layer revealing a subtle dependence of character and place and in the process showing an author in control of his form. Carl MacDougall - The Scotsman

Scott’s stories are full of lush detail and seedy grandeur… nostalgia is tempered with mockery. Judy Raymond - The Sunday Express T&T

Scott’s language accurately reflects a world which refuses to slip too easily into any received notions of West-Indianness….Scott reconnects us with the work of Marquez and Jean Rhys. This sensation of retuning linguistic strings alerts us to a new sound in Caribbean prose. Archie Markham

His descriptive writing is highly detailed, sensual, evocative, yet it serves to carry other elements, examining recent history, politics and the whole make up of society. Simon Lee - Sunday Guardian T&T

The stories are so well done, and so courageous…exquisitely crafted. Keith Jardim - Trinidad & Tobago Review

Scott’s characters often turn inward and discover some deep, dark, hidden secret realisation about themselves. The point is elegantly reinforced in ‘King Sailor One J’Ouvert Morning' Debbie Jacob - Express T&T

Mighty impressive newcomer. The Literary Review

Scott writes with warmth, sadness and beauty. Denise Perry - Donavin Booklist Canada

Usually each story ends with a bite that raises a question or makes a point that surfaces well into the next story. There is a quiet intimacy about these pieces. Publishers Weekly

Nostalgia and decay, sexuality and belonging—also unbelonging—are the themes in this book, the second work of fiction by Lawrence Scott. Keith Jardim - The Caribbean Writer Link

 

Short Stories

Chameleon. 2012

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