Emy Thomas 
Life in the Left Lane 

Life in the Left Lane is a short and lively nonfiction book about what its really like for expatriates to live in a tropical island paradise. Written by a journalist who has lived in the islands for more than thirty-five years, it is an honest, affectionate and humorous report on all aspects of the adventure, from adjusting to island time to making a living, building a dream house and coping with hurricanes. Her vivid descriptions of carnival, the Creole language, gardening and island food, and her insightful observations about minority status, politics, religion and crime, are enlightening reading for anyone curious about life in the Caribbean. The author writes about the islands in general, but specifically her island of St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands, where driving in the left lane in cars designed to drive on the right is but one of the idiosyncrasies of quirky island style.

About the author

Emy Thomas spent her first thirty-three years following a typical middle-class path, growing up in Connecticut, graduating from prestigious schools in the northeast, and working as a journalist in New York City. Then she discovered the tropics and has embraced the islands and their laid-back lifestyle ever since. For over a dozen years home was a sailboat, when she cruised throughout the Caribbean and Pacific with a typical "yachtie, " who made wandering a way of life. They visited scores of island paradises. When it was time to leave the boat and settle down the author chose St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands as her permanent home. She built her dream house on a hillside overlooking the Caribbean Sea and finally found her true calling as an author. Her first book, Home Is Where the Boat Is, was published in 1993. Life in the Left Lane is her second book.