{"product_id":"yesterdays-9781552454787","title":"Yesterdays","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA rediscovered classic, Yesterdays turns colonialism on its head.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter years of suffering at the hands of white missionaries trying to convert Trinidadians to Christianity, Poonwa has decided, as payback, to go to Canada and start a Hindu mission. His father, Choonilal, doesn't want to borrow the money Poonwa needs from the corrupt local priest. The whole village gets dragged into the fight, a distraction from the usual arguments over latrines and sexual dalliances.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1974, \u003ci\u003eYesterdays\u003c\/i\u003e is a ribald, outrageous portrait of Trinidadian village life, and a prescient proto-parody of what would become the archetypal immigrant story. Sacred cows both literal and figurative are skewered in a series of increasingly absurd encounters between villagers who can't keep their noses - and other body parts - out of their neighbours' business.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA foreword by Kevin Jared Hosein contextualizes this important book, which was politically and aesthetically ahead of its time but lost after the untimely death of Harold Sonny Ladoo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eYesterdays\u003c\/i\u003e upends conventional narratives that find sexual liberation in the postindustrial city. Ladoo's agrarian villagers inhabit the fullness of their complex humanities in audaciously funny and often uncomfortable ways, and are radically at ease with their fluid sexual appetites. An under-appreciated gem, his novel is as much a testament to Ladoo's skillful observation and rendering of the world that surrounded him as it is to the value of being tellers of our own stories.\" - \u003cb\u003eAndil Gosine, author of \u003ci\u003eNature's Wild: Love, Sex and Law in the Caribbean\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Yesterdays is the novel, underappreciated on its initial release and since forgotten, that should have charted a deviant, audacious path through the staid self-seriousness of Canadian literature. Let's hope there's still time.\" - \u003cb\u003ePasha Malla, author of \u003ci\u003eAll You Can Kill\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eHarold Sonny Ladoo was born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1945 and immigrated to Toronto, Canada, with his wife and son in 1968. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eNo Pain Like This Body\u003c\/i\u003e and his second novel, \u003ci\u003eYesterdays\u003c\/i\u003e, was published posthumously in 1974.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKevin Jared Hosein is a Caribbean novelist. He has also worked as a secondary school biology teacher for over a decade. He was named overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, and was the Caribbean regional winner in 2015. He has published two books: \u003cem\u003eThe Repenters\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Beast of Kukuyo\u003c\/em\u003e. The latter received a CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature, and both have been longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. His writings, fiction and non-fiction, have been published in numerous anthologies and outlets including \u003cem\u003eLightspeed Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMoko\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWasafiri\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eadda\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Trinidad and Tobago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Coach House Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50555487813906,"sku":"9781552454787","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e89c4bc7-8481-4cd3-8b0e-18e0ddd2a5ab.jpg?v=1731731967","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/yesterdays-9781552454787","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}