Anthony Kellman
The Coral Rooms

Percival Veer has risen to the tenth floor of the Federal Bank of Charouga, has acquired a large and imposing house and a young and attentive wife. But satisfaction eludes him. Guilt over a past wrong begins to trouble him and a recurrent dream of caves disturbs his sleep. As Percy's inner world crumbles, he is gripped by an obsessive desire to explore the deep limestone caves of his island, dimly remembered from his boyhood. This gripping, poetic novel charts Percy's meeting with his spiritual guide, Cane Arrow and his hallucinatory descent into the cave's depths.

Percival Veer’s journey through the caves is not only a journey to truths that lie within him, but a journey to a vision of ‘Creole magic’: ‘worlds of possibilities, coalescing visions and revisions of races and their juxtapositions.’ This vision contrasts sharply with the cynical and pragmatic world of ethnic politics which has been his corrupting environment as a career bureaucrat.

'Realistic and dreamlike, explicit and mysterious... The descriptions are evocative & sensual. A compelling read.' - Carole Klein.

'A realistic and convincing portrait of self-loathing' - Wilson Harris.

See extended notes

See reviews for this book

Anthony Kellman was born in Barbados. He currently teaches at Augusta College, Georgia.