Telling the tragic story of a young Sylvia Ann Russell, this novel focuses on the dilemmas of a young woman of mixed race in 1930s Guyana. After the death of her English father, Sylvia constantly struggles for economic survival and against attempts to exploit her sexually. Impossibly torn between her desire for emotional closeness and the integrity of her independence, Sylvia willfully accepts her dark fate when she falls ill. This brilliant and moving novel explores the plight of a Caribbean woman who demands more meaning from her life than her society will give her.