Timothy Williams is from London but has lived in the Caribbean for more than thirty years. His first French language novel, Un autre soleil, set in the island of Guadeloupe, was published in Paris by Rivages in March 2011. Translated into English by the author, the novel was published earlier this year as ANOTHER SUN, (Soho Crime, New York, ISBN-10: 1616951567).
For readers interested in the African diaspora on the far side of the Atlantic, in the départements français de l’Amérique (French possessions in the Americas) – and the frequent echoes there of the mother continent – ANOTHER SUN uses the medium of the mystery novel to present an interesting, almost sociological analysis of recent French colonialism and, at the same time, to tell an exciting tale.
The police have arrested Hégésippe Bray, whose feud with Calais dates back more than four decades. Timothy Williams’ Another Sun is a tale of envy and greed and sex envenomed by the inevitable racism of colonial politics.
Guadeloupe’s population is a tapestry of outsiders: descendants of the original French settlers (békés), descendants of the slaves brought from Africa to work the plantations, and descendants of the interbreeding between these two groups.
The French administrators balance the island’s rivalries through the awarding of construction projects. They keep a wary eye on the local independence faction, the Mouvement d’Action des Nationalistes Guadeloupéens (MANG), which has only a small following but is tending toward violence. The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA
Timothy Williams’ first five books, featuring Commissario Piero Trotti of the Italian police, are to be republished in the US in 2014/15.
Black August won a Crime Writers’ Association award.
In 2011, the London Observer placed him among the ten best modern European crime novelists
Timothy Williams Other Book Titles
Converging Parallels (London: Gollancz, 1982; ISBN 978-0-575-03125-8)
The Puppeteer (London: Gollancz, 1985; ISBN 978-0-575-04753-2)
Persona Non Grata (London: Gollancz, 1987; ISBN 978-0-575-04082-3)
Black August (London: Orion, 1992; ISBN 978-0-575-05307-6)
Big Italy (London: Orion, 1996; ISBN 978-0-575-05929-0)