Elma Napier, writer and politician, was born in 1892 in Scotland. She was the daughter of Sir William Gordon Cumming, who was accused of cheating while playing cards with the Prince of Wales in what was known as the baccarat scandal, and thereafter socially ostracised. After living in Australia for nine years, Elma Napier settled in Dominica with her second husband. She became a member of the island's legislative council – the first woman to sit in any West Indian parliament. She wrote two novels, and also two memoirs of her early life. Black and White Sands was written in 1962. She died in 1973.
