Behind the Face of Winter

Pedro Moore leaves the nuturing yet destitute home of his grandmother on Isabela Island to join his mother Isis, who works as a domestic in Montreal. Pedro brings with him the memories of his island, the teachings of his beloved grandmother and Brother Solomon, and a desire to know the secret identity of his father. The world of the poor black youth he has to negotiate, without losing himself, is hopelessly desperate, cruel and violent, and riddled with crime, yet paradoxically caring, within its own conventions.

Behind the Face of Winter is a coming-of-age novel that takes place in a Montreal in which immigrant youth totter on the edge of self-destruction and oblivion. Thomas's language is spare, and his craking dialogue and use of patois can compare wit the best in Caribbean literature. This is a brilliantly evocative novel, sure to leave its mark on the reader.