In 1978 Minister Whiteman dies and Marlene Blanchette is left
to raise his outside child, Venus

Impoverished and alone they are at the mercy of the men who
enter their lives. Venus seems destined to follow her mother's
footsteps. She believes it impossible to break out of the confines
of this poor town in the Caribbean.

In 1990 Chancellor Lion wealthy and self made visits his native
Island. One of his twin sons falls in love with Venus but it
may prove impossible for the volatile Roosevelt to marry the
girl he want.

Issues of AIDS, poverty, exploitation, inbreeding, equal rights,
identity and culture are woven into this rags to riches story.


This is the first of two novels tracing the lives of the Lion
Family who live between Chancellor's native home in the
West Indies and his adopted city, London in the United Kingdom.