An audio book
Set in Trinidad. One PoV per chapter. There's Betty (a teacher whose violent, handsome husband Sumil dies in the first chapter), Solo (her son) and Mr Cheyton (a colleague of Betty who moves in as a lodger - about 40, the same age as Betty). Cheyton is a closet gay, meeting men on the beach. He gets on well with Solo and Betty. Betty's friends Didi and Gloria gamble a bit, think that Sumil has cursed her, and encourage her to meet men. She meets a rich married man in her Bible Group, Dev, who's good at sex. His kids are at Solo's school. The kids know something of what's going on. Dev and Betty split - maybe because she forced him to decide one way or the other, or because Solo never liked Dev, despite Mr Cheyton trying to help.
Mr Cheyton tries sex with keen Betty, but it doesn't work. He tells her he's gay. She tells him she killed Sumil. Solo overhears her. He flies to his uncle (Sumil's brother) in New York. He begins cutting himself. After 3 years, no girlfriend, there he spends all his savings trying to buy fake identity papers and gets ripped off. He tries to kill himself. Harry fixes things. His wife's left him.
Cheyton moves out to live with Jackson, a policeman. Cheyton wants to tell Solo he's gay, but Jackson, paranoid and angry, stops him. Their relationship has ups and down. After a year they break up. He meets Manny, his first love, who he's been trying to contact. He has a husband, and is fairly open about it. His family is content. Cheyton had been rejected by his. When Manny discovers that his husband's been unfaithful, he moves in with Cheyton, who comes out to Solo.
We learn about Betty's first date with Sunil, etc. She's still single. Mr England likes her but she wants to split.
Harry buys Solo a whore. The whore understands what he really wants - gay SM.
Cheyton's murdered - gay bashing? Solo returns for the first time. The final part, leading up to the cremation ceremony is too long. At the end Manny intercedes to help Solo stop hating his mother.
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