Paradise Once (Akashic Books), the newest historical novel by Jamaican author Olive Senior, emphasises the importance of the indigenous Taíno people in the Caribbean. Senior, who won the overall 2016 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, focuses the narrative of Paradise Once on four survivors of a massacre. Imbuing their journeys with a mixture of sacred promise and immediate peril, the destinies of this young quartet become forever intertwined. Set in 16th century Cuba, the novel nonetheless feels sharply contemporary in its concerns: readers will root for these central characters, who strive against harrowing odds to preserve their cultural soul.