ABSTRACT

This pioneering study surveys nineteenth- and twentieth-century narratives of the West Indies written by white women, English and Creole. It introduces a fascinating wealth of relatively unknown material and constitutes a timely interrogation of the supposed homogeneity of Caribbean discourse, especially with regard to 'race' and gender.

chapter |16 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|23 pages

Defamiliarizing “the mistress”

Representations of white women in the West Indies

chapter 2|18 pages

“With the utmost familiarity”

Black and white women

chapter 3|34 pages

“This is another world”

Travel narratives, women and the construction of tropical landscape

chapter 4|15 pages

A female “El Dorado”

chapter 5|24 pages

Narratives of tainted empire

chapter |7 pages

Afterword