He was born on a sugar estate to James Kempadoo, aka Lauchmonen, and Priscilla Alemeloo Tambran, both Tamils.
[3] Having married in 1952, Kempadoo migrated the following year with his family to England, where he worked for the BBC,[3] and the Central Office of Information.
[4] The Caribbean Review of Books described the novel as "an intimate, clear-eyed portrait of Indo-Guyanese rural life", in which the author "channels the spirits of dignified misfits to dismantle the rigid hierarchies governing former plantation societies, all while honouring the polyglot traditions their descendants have elected to preserve.
"[5] In addition to Guyana Boy, he was the author of another novel, Old Thom's Harvest (1965), which focuses on religious and ethnic practices in the life of a rural family.
He was the father of Manghanita, sexology professor Kamala,[11] Shamanee, photographer Roshini ,[12] Malasula, Valmiki, novelist Oonya, Sanjhevi, and Anoushka.