Product Description This book is for all those who ever dreamed of leaving a hectic life for a semi-tropical island paradise.
The author and her husband learn that a retirement to voluntary simplicity on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma - without television, telephones or shopping malls - creates a lifestyle that brings its own sense of adventure and style.
Rubbing shoulders with an unusual mix of islanders, tourists, winter residents, VIPs, yachtsmen, and modern-day buccaneers, these intrepid New Yorkers learn to survive boredom, loneliness, homesickness, and the retirement blues.
Written in anecdotal style, and illustrated with engaging sketches, THIS SWEET PLACE follows the author's struggles with simple chores like shopping, cooking, socializing, and home building as she learns that the islands have their own special rhythm to be observed - a tempo directed by climate rather than time.
We come to know the real Exumians - descendents of slaves and slave owners, formidable sailors and devout farmers - and to appreciate their often difficult lives in what many consider a paradise on earth.
This is a witty and warm-hearted account that will appeal to retirees, escapists, and those planning for retirement. Anyone who has lived a life of hard work and long hours can use this book as a life preserver or a guidebook to paradise.
Customer Reviews:
Sunset migration December 27, 2007 I bought and read this book after a holiday in the Caribbean. I found the book sometimes difficult to follow - the author is not a professional novelist however I also liked the way it is down to earth and describes what real life is in the Caribbean. I felt it was a good complement to my experience as a tourist and to my wish to learn more about the Caribbean islands and their residents.
This Sweet Place, Island Living And Other Adventures September 18, 2001 Humor, insight, compassion, as well as an overwhelming sense of connection to all that is around her are Aileen Vincent-Barwood's trademark. Teamed with her artist husband Allen, she has managed to take the reader on a very real tour of her island paradise, never glossing over the unpleasant aspects that go with all the beauty of tropical island living. One comes away with a better understanding of the people, the history and the future of the Bahamas, as well as a relaxed feeling of having visited This Sweet Place.
This book takes a fresh and amusing look at retirement. August 17, 1999 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
In our youth-oriented society -- where anyone over 55 is considered to be "plummeting downhill fast" -- it is refreshing to read about a retired couple who look upon life after 65 as an adventure. The Barwoods refuse to be limited by their age and are determined to keep their minds active and alert by "going adventuring." They've chosen to simplify their lives -- something I'm now trying to do -- and at the same time, make them meaningful by defying the ageism the author believes to be one of the most severe biases in our beauty-crazed, fitness- obsessed, and fear-of-aging society. The book illustrates that these days retirement in America kills more people than hard work! So what to do to avoid boredom and keep keep healthy and well and active? The Barwood's secret is that by "going adventuring" on and around their tropical island they have been able to keep their enthusiasm and passion alive and well. In this marvelous book they have shown us how they and other retirees are doing it and how we "seniors" and those facing retirement in a few years, can do the same... But get this book not just for a new outlook on aging but for its wit and fun and dry humor.
This Sweet Place as an enduring legacy of the Bahamas July 20, 1999 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
For this reader, This Sweet Place has been a sweet surprise. Few of us who live big-city Bahamas lives are aware of the contributions which expatriate residents make to life on the islands. There are retirees, winter residents and other annual visitors who are an integral part of island life from Bimini to Inagua... It is a total participation in island life which gives Aileen Vincent-Barwood the inspiration for her observations. She has seen Exumians in the good times and the bad. She knows the good guys and the ones to look out for. She has valid experience to back up her perceptions. Every Bahamian with island roots will devour This Sweet Place with gusto.We've all known, at some time or another, every character that appears -- every foible, superstition, accent, "fashion," custom and creed. What's delicious is that they are all -- besides being real -- lovingly drawn and sympathetically observed. The enduring legacy of This Sweet Place will be its value as a chronicle of Bahamian island life in the 1980's and 1990's.
The book as seen by a Bahamian newspaper columnist... May 14, 1999 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Sometimes we need to see ourselves through the eyes of others to appreciate what it is that makes us special. Such an observer is Aileen Vincent-Barwood, an American journalist who with her educator husband, Allen, first came to Great Exuma in 1981,fell in love with the island, bought a home, and since 1986 has spent every winter there. Her book, THIS SWEET PLACE, recounts their experiences over the years as their lives gradually become interwoven into the tapestry of island life. A skilled writer, Ms. Barwood gently draws the reader into a world in which people still regard themselves as their brother's keeper, where strangers are made welcome, and where there is still respect for one's fellow man. She shares with us the incredible beauty of Exuma as it was before the intrusion of large-scale development. As a Bahamian I am grateful to Aileen Barwood for THIS SWEET PLACE. -- Nicki Kelly, MY TURN, The Nassau (Bahamas) Tribune, December 1, 1998.
All rights reserved. Amazon.com is a trademark of Amazon.com Information about prices, products, services and merchants is provided by third parties and is for informational purposes only. Caribbean Travel Books does not represent or warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information, and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use.
