This novel, set in a yard which is a microcosm of Kingston slum life, sets out as Mais himself said to give "a true picture of the real Jamaica and the dreadful condition of the working classes."

Roger Mais was a celebrated literary journalist and active proponent of Jamaican nationalism, whose published criticisms of Winston Churchill's imperialist ideology led to his imprisonment on charges of sedition. He was the author of Black Lightning and Brother Man.