Natives of My Person

A profound exploration of colonialism, from one of the Caribbean’s most powerful literary voices

‘A novel which adds a new dimension to contemporary fiction ... Natives of My Person is above all the story of a voyage … a voyage which as in The Odyssey and Moby Dick penetrates into the very depths of a civilization’ C. L. R. James

In the age of empire, the good ship Reconnaissance sets sail under its murderous Commandant. Yet this is no ordinary expedition for gold and plunder. It is a mission to create a new world in the virgin territories of San Cristobal, a fabled island shrouded in myth and promise. As the perilous voyage unfolds, however, it becomes a mirror of the colonial mind: avaricious, brutish, haunted by death and madness.

With poetic intensity and philosophical depth, this is a novel that journeys far beyond the seas it charts. Through shifting perspectives and a richly layered narrative, Lamming unearths the deep scars of conquest and the personal and political dimensions of empire – its delusions, its violence, and the haunting legacy it leaves behind.

‘One of the great political novels in modern “colonial” literature’ Ngugi wa Thiong’o