Turn Again Tiger

First published in 1958, this novel tells the continuing story of Tiger and Urmilla, a young Trinidadian couple struggling to lead an independent life away from traditional Indian ways. When Tiger’s father claims to have a promotion as a supervisor on a sugar estate and begs his son to work as his book keeper, Tiger reluctantly agrees. The year spent working in the hated cane fields and being treated with demeaning contempt by the white overseer tests Tiger and his marriage to the core, but ultimately proves the provocation to true independence and new clarity in relation to his father, Indian tradition, and whiteness. This is a key exploration of the process of dougla identity—the Creolizing of Indo-Caribbean experience—and displays the best qualities of Selvon’s seemingly casual art.