It is a semi-fictional autobiographical novel about a mixed-race Jamaican girl named Clare Savage growing up in the 1950s.

It is emphasized that the protagonists are generally unaware of these facts, which often serve to reveal the brutal nature of both slavery and imperialism.

It is a piece of revisionist literature meant to challenge the mainstream narrative of Jamaican history.

Abeng means an animal horn or musical instrument in the Twi language of the Akan people of Ghana.

In a lecture at the University of St. Thomas, Cliff said that the title was a reference to both of these uses, though neither appears in the novel's text; they are referenced in the book's foreword.