This is the story of brotherhood, of two young boys growing up in Scarborough, a not so nice part of Toronto. These boys, Francis and Michael, like David Chariandy are or Trinidadian descent; with an overworked black mother who works double, sometimes triple shifts and an absent Indian father. 

Brother explores questions of masculinity, family, race, and identity as they are played out in a Scarborough housing complex during the sweltering heat and simmering violence of the summer of 1991. it’s dangerous and it’s ugly and the author doesn’t try to find beauty in it  – it doesn’t exist. Yet Chariandy still manages to capture the readers imagination, his writing and story telling speak volumes.