Cynthia was born in Barbados to parents from Dominica. Her mother was from the Carib-Indian tribe and her father was black. She recounts the story of growing up in a very strict household as one of four children in a house that her father built. Cynthia move to England following her marriage to an English merchant seaman, fulfilling her curiosity of seeing what lay beyond the horizon. She moved to Hull in 1972 and considers how it has evolved in its acceptance of garlic and ginger as ordinary rather than exotic and the realisation that Barbados is not in Africa.

This interview was recorded as part of the ‘African Stories – Contemporary Voices’ project. You can read a full transcript of this interview over on the African Stories website by clicking here.