This is the first volume of Jan Carew's memoirs. In naming this first volume Potaro Dreams, Carew draws a parallel between Guyana's Potaro River and the shaping of his young life. Carew's engaging memoir takes the reader from his near-death experience with malaria, into his village life in Agricola and Mocha, a brief turn in New York when his sister was kidnapped and his family's return to British Guiana. Throughout, the reader sees the formation of Jan Carew's young mind and character at the hands of various adults along the way. This volume ends in 1939 with the beginning of WWII.