Minty Alley

A novel written nearly a hundred years ago that brings the past alive with such charm, vitality and humour

Bernardine Evaristo

Unforgettable . . . Groundbreaking

Sam Jordinson, Guardian

In this novel, ordinary people - in this case primarily Caribbean women - display the extraordinary creativity and persistence in the face of life's challenges that's exemplary of Caribbean culture. It is near impossible to fully appreciate the artistic and political merits of James' later work without having read Minty Alley's vivid description of Trinidadian subaltern life

Philosophy Now

Minty Alley provides a rich literary rendering of working-class life in colonial Trinidad . . . its rediscovery and republication is an important event

The Arts Desk

[Minty Alley] is funny, gossipy and meandering . . . James uses Haynes's shy silence as a space to be filled with each characters' rich backstory, creating a historical soap opera more often relayed directly in the characters' Trinidadian vernacular

Bad Form

Light-hearted, comic, occasionally sobering, always engrossing, the novel is a lovely and captivating read

Bernadine Evaristo

Deservedly, James's work is undergoing a revival . . . The strength and value of the ordinary man is a through line in James's diverse body of work, and nowhere is this interest more evident than in Minty Alley

Paris Review

'Ground-breaking... [A] fictional masterpiece

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

The book should be read by everyone who wishes to learn about early Caribbean life and who would like a deeper understanding of this author of masterpieces

Fred DAguiar