Exploring the complicated landscape of human interaction within the walls of the offices of Essential Products Ltd., this serious yet comedic novel offers a glimpse into 1940s Trinidad. Against the backdrop of the often hierarchical and always complex office space, characters negotiate issues of sexual attraction and repulsion, their attitude to colonial rule, racial tensions, and the changing labor market of contemporary society. Filled with rich characters and an acute but sympathetic portrayal of a microcosm of middle- and lower-middle-class Trinidad, this satire turns a careful eye to the disparities between the world of the office and wider society.

Edgar Mittelholzer is the author of numerous novels, including My Bones and My Flute and A Swarthy Boy, his autobiography.