Lakshmi Persaud's new novel 'Raise the Lanterns High' brings to mind a direct comparison with the writings of her fellow countryman, V S Naipaul. Both Naipaul and Persaud hail from Trinidad and capture the beauty of the island in a mellifluous literary style that evokes memories of sunshine, palm trees and a relaxed pace of life. But where Naipaul leans towards dark humour ('Mystic Masseur', 'Miguel Street') and melancholy ('The Mimic Men'), Lakshmi Persaud creates a gentler, lilting prose that transports the reader to the sweet smells of frying pakoras and comfortable maternal arms of the islands inhabitants.

In 'Raise the Lanterns High' the tale opens with high-caste Hindu woman Vasti, who on the eve of her marriage recalls witnessing the rape of a schoolgirl. Vasti discovers that she is to marry the rapist whom she saw in the sugar cane fields many years earlier. The shock and horror of the memory brings on a trance-like unconsciousness that sees her travel back 150 years into 18th century India. Persaud has delicately and skilfully woven together the historic strands with those of Vasti's 1960's existence.

A sylph-like being, Vasti arrives in India to witness the death of King Paresh of Jyotika and the courtly ritual whereby his three queens are expected to perform suttee at the state funeral by climbing onto the pyre with his body to be burned alive. The three queens are resigned to performing their duty, but Persaud slowly unravels the religious and psychological strands to lay bare the reality of this pagan ritual. It is not surprising to learn that Lakshmi Persaud is the mother of TV psychologist, Dr Raj Persaud. If the reader can suspend disbelief about Vasti's dreamlike status, mother Persaud very convincingly sets out the psychological approaches of Paresh's three queens.

Starting with South-Indian Queen Renu, the exotic classical dancer Queen Dayita and the mild-mannered, dutiful Queen Meena, Persaud shows each of them battling with court rituals and priests in their own unique manner. Their dilemma is a matter of life and death, but as they vacillate between performing their duty and saving their lives, the reader gets a insightful view into the order, formality and hierarchy that helped India preserve its kingdoms for centuries.

The three queens are no "shrinking violets"; Queen Renu is an accomplished horsewoman and a learned academic, Queen Dayita is skilled manipulator and Queen Meena is a gentle, but wise first wife. Each must work with the other to preserve faith in the monarchy, but each still has a rich fulfilling life to lead.

The queens' dilemma is contrasted with Vasti's. Should she speak out against her fiancée and bring disgrace upon her family or should she remain silent and think no more of the past?

'Raise the lanterns high' is a hauntingly bittersweet novel about female emancipation in 18th century Indian and modern-day Trinidad. As the tale draws to a close, the reader is left to wonder at how little has changed between their two eras.

ABOUT LAKSHMI PERSAUD

Lakshmi Persaud was born in Tunapuna, in the village of Pasea, Trinidad. Her grandparents, Hindus from Uttar Pradesh, moved from India to the Caribbean in the 1890s. She left Trinidad to do her BA (Hons) and her Ph.D. at Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland and her Postgraduate Diploma at Reading University, UK.

Dr Persaud taught at well-regarded grammar schools in the West Indies (Queen's College in Guyana, Harrison college in Barbados and St. Augustine Girl's High School in Trinidad).

She moved to the UK in 1974 with her husband, Professor Bishnodat Persaud, prominent economist, and her three children, Rajendra, Avinash and Sharda. Lakshmi wrote articles on socio-economic concerns for newspapers and magazines for many years, she also read and simultaneously recorded books in Philosophy, Economics and Literature for the Royal National Institute for the Blind in London.

She began a new career in the late 1980s - writing fiction. Her short story 'See Saw Margery Daw', was broadcast by the BBC World service on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th November 1995 .

Her first novel 'Butterfly in the Wind' was published by Peepal Tree Press in 1990. It was reprinted in 1996. It is still selling well and now in its third impression. 'Sastra' was published in 1993.

In October 1994, the Trinidad Guardian published the best seller list for Caribbean books published abroad. At the time Lakshmi Persaud had published two novels in the U.K. 'Sastra' was placed first on the list and 'Butterfly in the Wind', fifth.

'For the Love of my Name', her third novel, was launched in December 1999 and public demand has meant it has also had to be reprinted. All three novels have received excellent reviews in the UK, the Caribbean and internationally.

There has been increasing recognition of Lakshmi Persaud's work by academic institutions. Her novels are being used as texts in Caribbean and post-colonial literature courses in a number of Universities and Colleges including: Warwick University, Birmingham University, Goldsmiths College (London University), London Metropolitan University, The University of the West Indies, and The University of California (Los Angeles), The University of Miami and Mills College, California. The novels have also been set texts in English Literature examinations in the Caribbean from '11+' to GCSE level.

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