Books

In the early 1960's while studying at the University of Liverpool, Deven Samy, a young man of Indian origin from the Island of Mauritius, fell in love with Paula McMaster, a fellow student from a poor neighbourhood of Liverpool, at a time when such relationships were rare and frowned upon. The book highlights their lives, studies, and love affair against the backdrop of increasing racial tensions in the UK, around the time of the Beatles' arrival on the music scene. Their search for a home in a society where they would feel welcome took them from the UK to the USA and finally to Canada where they would set roots in Montreal and eventually on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Despite remarkable progress in this area, has racism been largely overcome in Liverpool and London to make the couple rue their decision to leave behind friends and family? You be the judge! The book is based on Deven telling his life story to his grandchildren each evening while holidaying in the BC resort of Ucluelet. While their parents went on a week-long kayaking trip to the Broken Group Islands, the children hiked different trails in the Pacific Rim National Park during the day and in the evening listened to Deven's story. Raindrops in the Ocean is mostly autobiographical, based on the author's experience in Mauritius, Liverpool, London, Indiana, Montreal, and Vancouver Island. Some fictional segments were added to broaden the book's potential appeal to millennials.