Cambridge [Paperback]

Caryl Phillips (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 1993

One of England's most widely acclaimed young novelists adopts two eerily convincing narrative voices and juxtaposes their stories to devastating effect in this mesmerizing portrait of slavery. Cambridge is a devoutly Christian slave in the West Indies whose sense of justice is both profound and self-destructive, while Emily is a morally-blind, genteel Englishwoman.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Phillips welds an Englishwoman's journal to testimonials from a slave to form this superbly achieved novel about a 19th-century sugar plantation in the West Indies. Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This virtuoso exercise in narrative voice may remind some of Kazuo Ishiguro's Remains of the Day ( LJ 10/1/89). Emily Cartwright is sent to the British West Indies to survey her father's sugar plantation, where she examines her ambiguous feelings about slavery. Phillips nimbly assumes the voice of a 19th-century British woman; like Ishiguro, he explores all the subtleties inherent in having such a narrator speak. But the story loses some of its emotional grip when, in Section II, Phillips introduces the voice of the slave Cambridge. Attempts to link the experience of the two characters--or to show how fortune condemns each to their separate misery--cause the narrative to lose steam. Still, the overall effect is powerful. Phillips details both the grimness and lushness of island life. Without moralizing, he shows how this unnatural social structure is bound to collapse. Recommended for public libraries.
- Rita Ciresi, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (February 2, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679736891
• ISBN-13: 978-0679736899
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #344,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Caryl Phillips is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction. His novel A Distant Shore won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and his other awards include the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good, but then it fails, October 4, 2004

By 

C. Brown (Evanston, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cambridge (Paperback)

The narrative of Emily Cartwright is marvelous. I found myself easily believing I was reading an account written by a young woman in the 18th century, with matter of fact observations on race and men consistent with that time. The language is a delight to read, but as I was pleasantly carried along I began to wonder where the story was going. When a character using the occult entered the story, I had hope of the plot thickening but, alas, it didn't. Part II, which seemed very contrived and rushed, was disappointing.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well worked, thought provoking and historic, May 7, 2001

By 

"laojpwamw" (Stockton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cambridge (Paperback)

I enjoyed Cambridge. The story is told from multiple perspectives which would explain the open ending. Who's version is the truth? How are their interpretations of events determined by their different cultural backgrounds? How do these multiple versions of a history comment upon the historical representation of actual Caribbean and African colonization? The characters are complex and contradictory - likeable and detestable all at once. One gets a glimpse into colonial life, attitudes and beliefs - not just one sided but as they probably were, complex, multiple, and contradictory. Caryl Phillips has done his research, the prose is authentic for the time, his work is based upon historical evidence (there is a recent dissertation that describes his historical influences). A good and well worth read.

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful and disturbing book, May 12, 2009

By 

Mr. C. Doyle (St. George's, Grenada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cambridge (Paperback)

This is a powerful and disturbing historical novel about the days of slavery in the west indies, not long before slavery was finally abolished. The prose is beautifully crafted and takes you right into the period. The book is easy to read, but for most readers it will not be a particularly satisfying or enjoyable book (as you can see from other reviews) because no main character is particularly sympathetic or easy to identify with. Rather this book gives you a look at a period of history where no one comes out particularly well. However, it evokes the period and attitudes sharply, and is a clear reminder that while we have a ways to go in race relations, we have made some substantial progress.