A gifted young scholar clings desperately to part-time employment at a Caribbean university. Then, a post opens up on an unknown offshore campus in Portmore, Jamaica. Into this harsh yet delicate terrain ventures Candace Clarke, bent on taking root in an academic world. As her relationship with her dysfunctional father grows more fraught, she draws comfort from her longstanding friend, Randall (a medievalist and would-be novelist), and she confides in him about her troubled past and bewildering present. Around her, insecurity and absurdity prompt malice, panic and redeeming wit.

Alongside the lighter moments of college life, Grounds for Tenure discloses the diverse cravings of the ultra-smart and unexpectedly foolish, as well as their self-absorption and bottomless generosity. This tale of inner and outer landscapes marks a new departure in Caribbean fiction. Humorous, critical and compassionate, Barbara Lalla turns her keen gaze to the habitats for rising intellectuals in the Caribbean world of letters.