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Indlæser... Black Orchids (2008)af Gillian Slovo
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Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. This is the first novel I have read by this author. It is set in both Ceylon (as it was then called) and England and covers a period of twenty five years from the 1940s in Ceylon, to England from the 1950s to the 1970s and then back to Ceylon. I was really drawn in from the beginning of the story. The main character Evelyn is an English girl born and raised in Ceylon. The country is on the verge of independence and Evelyn's family is set to return to England when she meets and falls in love with Emil Raymundo, a Sinhalese man from a wealthy family. As a result she refuses to marry the kind but dull Tommy and marries Raymundo in spite of the opposition of his family. They leave Ceylon in the 1950s with their son Milton and later have a daughter Vanessa. I enjoyed the first half of the book which described life in Britain in the 50s for a mixed race family. Raymundo's flamboyance is disliked both by his family and the British and there are some beautaifully described scenes such as sports day at their son's boarding school. but without revealing too much of the story, I felt that the book lost its way a little in the second half and was not so convincing. But I still in the end thought it was worth reading and would be interested to read another of this author's books as a point of comparison. I always find stories set in Colonial times fascinating when they cover the era of transition into independence. This novel is set in Ceylon as it moves towards becoming Sri Lanka. The main characters are both rebellious in their own families and end up together with the problems of mixed marriages, rejection from families and the problems that their children face, especially in somewhere like England in the post-war years.The extra fascination is to watch the change in relationships over time and in different countries with the new pressures that are placed on it. A tale of a couple both born and brought up in Sri Lanka - meet while young - he is brown and she is white. Marry against parents wishes - move to UK, [more the wife's wishes than husbands], husband and children suffer racism and classism, especially hurtful at school. Woman becomes depressed - disappears - husband tells the children she died in a car accident, even takes them to her "grave." The son gets through a period at posh, boarding school and then at state school, visits Sri Lanka when older and finds he is comfortable at last. Finds his mother too. ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
When the genteely impoverished and rebellious Evelyn marries the charming Emil, scion of a privileged Sinhalese family, she thinks that her dream of a life in England can now at last come true. So the family travel, with their young son Milton, from Ceylon to Tilbury Docks. But this is England in the 1950s and, no matter how hard Evelyn wishes that it would, England does not take kindly to strangers, especially families who are half black and half white. A profound and moving novel, this is the story about the search to feel at home in your own skin. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
Er det dig?Bliv LibraryThing-forfatter. |
Om redenen die mij nooit helemaal duidelijk werden wil Evelyn ineens naar Engeland verhuizen, een land waar zij nooit is geweest. Hoewel Emil een succesvol bedrijf opzet en daardoor in de hoogste kringen verkeert krijgt het gezin al snel te maken met subtiele en minder subtiele vormen van racisme. En waar Emil er alleen maar strijdvaardiger van wordt, ontstaat in Evelyn een gevoel van schaamte en ongemak, zozeer dat zij het gezin - dat inmiddels is uitgebreid met een dochter - verlaat.
Het tweede deel van het boek focust op de relatie tussen Emil en zijn zoon Milton. Net als zijn moeder wil Milton het liefste niet opvallen, erbij horen, maar door zijn huidskleur is dit onmogelijk. De relatie tussen vader en zoon kenmerkt zich door een totaal gebrek aan werkelijke communicatie en een opeenstapeling van frustraties. Pas als Milton in Sri Lanka zijn moeder terugvindt ontdekt hij een plek waar hij zich echt thuis kan voelen.
Wat ik echt mooi vond in dit boek zijn de beeldende beschrijvingen van de natuur in Sri Lanka. De subtiele manieren waarop de Britse samenleving het gemengde gezin buitensluit zijn tenenkrommend goed beschreven. Maar wat voor mij echt afbreuk deed aan het verhaal is de manier waarop de relatie tussen Evelyn en Emil wordt uitgewerkt. In het begin had het wat van een bouquetreeks romannetje, later werden beide karakters voor mij steeds irritanter in hun absurde gebrek aan communicatie en hun extreme dramatiek. Over the top en ongeloofwaardig. ( )