I. Jones VINE VOICE

I should begin by saying that I haven't read this book yet. I bought it for my wife and she hasn't read it yet either. However, she is Bajan and an historian and her immediate reaction was "What British plantation owner would name a slave after George Washington?!" It's true that the young GW spent a few months in Barbados, but it beggars belief that post-US independence a slave in a British colony would be named after someone who was regarded by the British as a notorious traitor. After all, when the novel is set there was still immense hostility between Britain and the US. It may sound like a pedantic point but I can only assume that the author chose the name to appeal to a US readership, and I until I read it I can only wonder what other historical howlers lurk within.