“Characters caught between deeply conflicting loyalties are driven by the politics of the dank, tropical atmosphere of a British Caribbean colony, half a century ago, only to find themselves trapped in a drama whose tragic effects still haunt them and their fellow Guyanese.” –Frank Birbalsingh author of Novels and The Nation: Essays in Canadian Literature.
“Kenneth Puddicombe’s RACING WITH THE RAIN is a gritty look at the politics of a nation and within a family that drive a young man from his home and from his country. Gripping and hard-hitting, this is a novel you won’t want to miss.” —Karen Fenech author of Gone
“From the first page…the characters come alive in…creating enough tension to want the reader to thirst for more. As a fellow author, I am impressed with this author’s writing style which left me chomping at the bit to read beyond the first chapter.” –ENRICO DOWNER, author of There Once Was a Little England, a story about man’s obsession with colour and class in colonial Barbados.
By Kat Lager
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Racing With The Rain (Kindle Edition)
I love the author’s use of descriptive language. The setting and characters jump off the pages of the book.
Racing With the Rain has many layers to it. It examines family conflict, political upheaval and personal turmoil. The reader follows the main character, Carl Dias, through a journey where he discovers what really matters in life.
By bazp
Format:Paperback from Amazon
I completed this novel in 3 days for the turning of every page drove me deeper into the story, politics and human side of the characters. The author’s vision and story were well told and a remarkable representation of colonialism. Highly recommended.
FROM JOSIE ANGOD
This book was quite a journey for me! Being married to a Guyanese for almost 40 years now, I could relate to many of Carl’s childhood adventures. They rang really true to Guyanese life from my husband’s experiences, and especially from stories my mother-in-law related to me over the years. Your book helped to connect the dots. In particular, I learned much about Guyanese history after Independence that I was not aware of.
This is a very informative book that all children of Guyanese heritage should read. It would help them better understand why their parents think the way they do; the challenges they faced in their childhood and the hardships in finding their way out of Guyana.
I enjoyed your book. You are a descriptive writer who paints well with pen in hand. Your story had a bit of everything….suspense, humor, history, and romance. Most of your main characters have some redeeming qualities about them. I like that.
Josie Angod
FROM ELEANOR GILLON
I finished Racing with the Rain this morning and WOW, what a great book. It kept me wondering what was going to happen next, full of suspense, reality of life and I got a bit of a history lesson. Thanks Ken and I hope you are working on another one!
A masterpiece!! Mar 9 2013
By Ryguy
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Racing with the Rain immerses the reader in a captivating plot, that leaves them scrambling to finish the current page and eagerly turn towards the next one. A must read for everyone!
Memorable April 25 2013
By Shopaholic – Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Racing With the Rain in a memorable novel about family, human relations and life in Guyana pre and post independence. Well written, the author draws you to the relatable character of Carl Dias, a man who has to come to grips with his past, present and future while visiting a country he once fleed. Fast moving, poignant, touching, this story is well told and many generations of Guyanese immigrants now living abroad will come to appreaciate the insight this fiction provides into the realities of what their parents and grandparents endured during the struggle for independence in Guyana.
Racing With The Rain: A fast moving rain cloud in an otherwise clear sky triggers a sudden downpour and people run for cover. Is it possible to outrun the rain? Can one ever really escape the past?
A gripping page-turner. Puddicombe blends the past and present, creating tension and greater appreciation of what is at stake when a son returns home to his birthplace to bury his father with whom he has had a troubled relationship. The connection with my own return to Guyana after my father’s death was immediate and heartfelt. A story that brings to the fore the conflicting relationships between a father and his sons.
Thanks for writing this novel and revealing what was silenced and distorted for so long. A gripping story and a real page turner for someone who was too young to understand all the hatred and violence of the 1960s in Guyana.
Very well written,the author seems to have been very thorough in his research. Unfortunately though it brought back long forgotten memories of a very scary time in Guyana, it was also nostalgic,taking me back to other earlier happy & carefree days. Yes, it was a race with the rain, homes open to let in the fresh air had to be quickly shuttered before it came clattering down onto the zinc roofs. Good reading.
“Book Review: “Racing With The Rain” by Ram Angod
In his debut novel, “Racing With The Rain”, Ken Puddicombe fictionalizes his personal experiences growing up in British Guiana within a context of racial conflict, turbulent colonial politics, boyhood exploits, and divisive family tensions. The principal character, Carl Diaz, reluctantly returns to his native land to attend his father’s funeral and through a perceptual lens tinted by 16 years of cultural exposure in Toronto, he reflects on his life in the British colony. Puddicombe holds the reader’s interest in his novel through gruesome national politics, humour, colourful characters, family intrigues, some final suspense, and simply by humanizing his several sub-plots in ways most of us can relate to. “Racing With the Rain” is a good read, the kind of stuff you’d enjoy curled up in your sofa on a rainy day!
—Ram Angod, World Traveller. Existentialist.
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