This little guy is Dominica:
And this little guy is the summary:
Elma Napier's remarkable memoir chronicles her love affair with Dominica. It began in 1932 when she turned her back on London's high society to build a home in Calibishie, then a remote village on Dominica's north coast.
There are tales of bohemian house parties, of war and death, smugglers and servants and, above all, of stories inspired by her political life as the only woman in a colonial parliament, her love for the island's turbulent landscapes and her curiosity about the lives and culture of its people.
I will admit, embarrassed, that I did not really know Dominica was a thing. I've heard of the Dominican Republic; if I've heard of Dominica before I probably thought they were the same place.
It was neat, but also a little sad, to read about the island becoming more modernized. I'm sure what's there today is a far cry from the jungly island she lived in.
Kind of like The Lion Children that I read for Botswana, I wonder what makes people decide to leave their life and country behind and randomly start somewhere new. Also what amount of money you have to do that. Napier does seem to be more aware of the privilege she has (which makes sense, they were children). Although I started the book with a bit of a laugh as it described a bit from her first book, "...of her early years, evokes what she called the 'casual cruelty of childhood' often confined to a lonely existense with governesses (and 30 indoor servants), and leavened by her love for exploring moors, forest and sea." Let's see. She was born in 1892. So while she was growing up all sad with her life of exploration and servants waiting on her, millions of other kids were working most of the day and being maimed or killed on the job. So, not exactly a rough life.
Here were some of the other highlights, parts I found interesting just because they show how different the world is today. For instance, the remedies for and attitudes toward sickness: "For the first four years I myself was immune [to malaria], and then attacked no more than every six months, which I looked on as slimming." I mean I guess it's slimming if it doesn't kill you. There was also the passage about a man who was impotent. (Why she's having this conversation with the doctor, I have no idea.) "The doctor told him that it would be possible to give hormone injections but that these would be extremely expensive. 'No matter,' he said. 'Union will pay.' And the doctor told me that it did." I'll spare you my rant on the patriarchy and its never-ending obsession for making sure men can have all the sex while policing women's bodies.
It was also interesting to know what was happening on the island during WWII. As an American, you kind of think of it as an "over there" sort of thing (even with Hawaii having been attacked). British territories and colonies (or whatever the technical term is) don't really register to you. But after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dominican boats were sunk by the enemy. They also worried about blacking out windows at night so they wouldn't be bombed.
Man I love history. Getting one person's account is so interesting and intimate. Also I want to be on an island right now.
