A promise to return to a place that has changed you, where you’ve lived and loved with the intensity and passion of youth, is often made but rarely kept. This provocative memoir begins with such a promise, made in 1962 by three young American women – the author among them – on a windy mountaintop overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Using tools of the historian, novelist and poet to share memories of her experiences and emotional journey, Gail Porter Mandell offers an unaccustomed perspective on Belize in the waning days of colonial rule, with political and cultural revolutions brewing.

Seen through eyes opened wide, the seaside town of Angel Creek and its diverse cast of characters – Garifuna, Creole, Latino, Amerindian, Asian, European and American – come alive. Years later, a surprise-filled return journey affirms that human relationships can transcend racial and cultural differences – and even time.