Set in Toronto, this slightly surreal novel of sexual politics by veteran fiction writer Austin Clarke, winner of the 1999 W. O. Mitchell Literary Prize, tells the tale of a 40-something black man who meets a white woman in her late 20s. Both characters are nameless. At a party on a summer afternoon, they begin a conversation, partly flirtatious, partly confrontational, that lasts into the morning hours.

At the time, the unnamed narrator is in love with a prudish Filipino woman, whom he subsequently drops for his new acquaintance. After he marries the woman from the party, her close friend, Eireene (who later becomes known as Auntie Reens), begins usurping the man’s position in the household. The question is whether or not Auntie Reens and the wife set up the original meeting at the summer party.

Our narrator works as a judge in a refugee court where he listens to the horror stories of asylum-seekers. He weaves his present life with reminiscences of his Caribbean roots. However, he appears confused. He can’t seem to remember how long he has been newly married. Is he having a breakdown?

His new wife owns a disgusting dog that relieves itself in their beautiful apartment, where dogs are not allowed, ruining the carpet and the hardwood floors. She revels in the destructiveness of the situation. He is too spineless to do anything about it. This aspect of the story is so unsettling, making both characters so unlikable, that it is difficult to be interested in the bizarre sexual intrigues that take up the final pages, leading to an ending that is open to several interpretations.

Clarke may be a consummate storyteller, but this tale is not his most memorable.