Marie-Thérèse Browne

White, mulattos, and slaves lived by very different rules. The author provides a brief history of the settlement of Jamaica to provide a historical perspective. Diary entries are the basis of the story. Letters, telegrams, reports, and newspaper clippings are used provide supplemental information and move the stories along. Browne central theme throughout is discrimination and prejudgment between races, religions, and social classes. The moving back and forth between the main characters made pacing difficult. There are punctuation and typing errors. The Browney family tree graph was blurry and quality of the illustrations need improvement.… (meer)

This is a fascinating tale about a Jamaican family and the daughter who moves to England in the years before WWII. Olga Browney was born and educated in Kingston, the child of a white mother and black father. She and her siblings navigate Jamaica's racial politics and economic crises. In the 1930s Olga travels to England to train in dance, and her life ends up following a path far different from what she expected.

There is much that is interesting in this book. The social and racial hierarchies of both Jamaica and England dictate much about people's lives. Browne's discussion of life in Jamaica is beautiful. I really enjoyed her prose. I was definitely engaged by Olga's story.

My only real complaint is that I found the format of the book- a series of letters and diary entries- to be somewhat clumsy. I think it would have been better had it simply been written in a straight narrative style. Otherwise I enjoyed this book.… (meer)

This is a collection of diary entries, letters and news clippings telling the story of the author’s mother and family. Poverty, discrimination, betrayal, loss and other tragedies fill the pages, but a mother’s true love shines through. More editing overall, but particularly of the diary entries would have helped the flow of the story. The lack of editing left random facts and only half developed ideas throughout. But despite its flaws, the author succeeds in presenting a fine tribute to her mother’s love and devotion.… (meer)