21 April 2014: This biography is as illustrious as it's cover; really beautiful. Lorna gives you her family history in words as fluid as the diagram she provided at the beginning of the book. Never once did I become confused or mistake a family member. I don't remember the last biography I read and I think if I had read any other biography I might not have enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed "From Harvey River". The familiarity of the language, the description of the greenery and landscape, the imagery of the people...I felt like was reading some of my own family history. My heritage also stems from a West Indian country once ruled by England where th Queen was on the currency and mango trees grew in the backyard. Goodison's biography has motivated me to ask my own family questions. I can't understand why people would leave a place where they were self sufficient to come to America and work their lives away.
Goodison doesn't really talk about anything bad. I don't blame her, no one wants to air their family's dirty laundry. I hope to read more books that give me the feeling I"m reading about me. That allows me to picture actual people I know or people with similar quality. I enjoyed this book more than I expected and I am thankful for that.
In chapter 1, Lorna writes "Ann with the blue-black hair, who grew to look like a girl in a Gauguin painting. The day before I started the book, I went to the Gaugin exhibit at the the MoMA and came across his Women at the River series. I loved his work.
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