Ambrosine Thermutis Smith is a fictional character from the equally fictional Guinep Hill, a small, unknown district somewhere in the Caribbean. She arrives in the United States and experiences the culture shock that is common to most immigrants from the Caribbean. The resilient Ambrosine finds ways to survive ‘Foreign’ and adapt to her new environment while maintaining her sense of humor and her love for her homeland.
Originally published in three volumes, Country Gal a Foreign: The Collection, brings the reader of the best of Ambrosine. Ambrosine’s journey is every immigrant’s journey, though they may take different paths. She looks back with nostalgia at what she left behind in her homeland but recognizes that, in order to survive her new home, she must adapt and learn the ‘foreign words’. Ambrosine makes us laugh, perhaps because there is a little bit of her in all of us, the side that learns to laugh, even in the face of adversity.