From early in her life, Kamla is surprised by a contrary inner voice which frequently gainsays the wisdom of her elders and betters. But Kamla is growing up in a traditional Hindu community and attending schools in colonial Trinidad where rote learning is still the order of the day. She learns that this voice creates nothing but trouble and silences it. In this book the voice is freed. Set in the 1940s, Butterfly in the Wind was enthusiastically received when it first appeared in 1990. Its portrayal of a passage from childhood to young womanhood was praised by The Sunday Times as 'a sweet-natured book which is above all a tremendous celebration of life'. The Observer praised it for 'the empathy with which Lakshmi Persaud writes of the natural world...and Hindu customs'. This book has an enduring appeal.