A Shift In the Light

Patricia Glinton-Meicholas began this semi-autobiographical novel in response to the long struggle and eventual death from cancer of a beloved cousin, who was her best friend in childhood. A focal point is a sojourn of some years with loving grandparents on a rural island of The Bahamas, the description of which reveals hilarious youthful escapades and a unique parade of characters. While this period was idyllic in one sense, the young girls were not shielded from the harder realities of family life or from the wider movements of history—local and international—and the sometimes painful impacts on their existence. One such focal point is the decolonialization of The Bahamas. These lines feed the central theme of the work—mutability and the courage to respond conscientiously and adapt to change, notions that are reflected in the title of the book.