05hamiltonk's review against another edition
4.0
I don’t know if I can even find the words to describe how I feel about this book. It is a story of family, perseverance, life and death, struggle and history.
I really connected with the story. It made me long to know my grandmother’s mother, her father, to know more about her sisters and brother. It made my heart ache for my grandmother who was really my link to Jamaica. The person who connected me to an island I had only been to once, up until this year. I think when we lost her my connection to Jamaica grew stronger, in my wanting to be close to her.
When I saw her name in this book I cried. I wasn’t expecting it and it took me completely off guard. It was beautiful to simply see a family’s history that reflected my own on a page.
Moral of the story is, go read this book if you want a warm heart, to laugh out loud and eyes filled with tears. It is magical.
I really connected with the story. It made me long to know my grandmother’s mother, her father, to know more about her sisters and brother. It made my heart ache for my grandmother who was really my link to Jamaica. The person who connected me to an island I had only been to once, up until this year. I think when we lost her my connection to Jamaica grew stronger, in my wanting to be close to her.
When I saw her name in this book I cried. I wasn’t expecting it and it took me completely off guard. It was beautiful to simply see a family’s history that reflected my own on a page.
Moral of the story is, go read this book if you want a warm heart, to laugh out loud and eyes filled with tears. It is magical.
surabhichatrapathy's review against another edition
3.0
From Harvey River by Lorna Goodison is a memoir of her mother and her island.
The author through her maternal family's story brings to you pre-independence life in Jamaica. She beautifully brings the food, the landscape, the language and the culture into the story. She shows the country life, the town life and the hard city life.
She introduces us to all different ethnicities living in the island as a result of colonialism. Native Indians, Africans, English and Indians. Her family belonging to the upper class of society, see both the luxuries of mingling and marrying European men. But also the downfall that came with the war and above all of not being considered English enough.
The book is a light, heartwarming read. I like how she brings in the history of the place, the art, architecture and literature, while narrating her mother's life.
The author through her maternal family's story brings to you pre-independence life in Jamaica. She beautifully brings the food, the landscape, the language and the culture into the story. She shows the country life, the town life and the hard city life.
She introduces us to all different ethnicities living in the island as a result of colonialism. Native Indians, Africans, English and Indians. Her family belonging to the upper class of society, see both the luxuries of mingling and marrying European men. But also the downfall that came with the war and above all of not being considered English enough.
The book is a light, heartwarming read. I like how she brings in the history of the place, the art, architecture and literature, while narrating her mother's life.
bookofcinz's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful, utterly beautiful… a memoir from a daughter about her mother…. The BEAUTY!
A sweeping memoir set in Jamaica starting from the 1890s to the 1950s with Lorna’s mother Doris Goodison being the center. This book is packed with history of fascinating tidbits about Jamaica, in writing about her mother, Lorna Goodison takes us in what is was like living in Jamaica during that particular time period and she did it so seamlessly. This is a beautiful memoir that I highly recommend to Jamaicans or anyone who loves history and strong females.
From Harvey River: A Memoir of my Mother and Her Island we are introduced to the Harvey family, how they came to settle in Hanover and develop an entire community around the Harvey River. Lorna introduces us to her Great Grandparents, Grandparents, and every other family member who came from English, African and Irish heritage. We meet Margret and David and their offspring who included Doris who is Lorna’s mother. Lorna writes about her mother meeting her father, moving from her childhood home of Lucea to St. Elizabeth, then to Kingston. We see how her life changes with each move and what it means to raise a family in Kingston through sheer grit.
I know I keep using the word Beautiful to describe this book but that is exactly the feeling I got when I read this book. It was pure, it was joyous and truly an ode to Jamaica, a Jamaican family and daughter honoring her mother. The book was so easy to read because of the writing, Lorna totally immerses you into the Harvey/Goodison history to the point where you felt like you knew each of them individually.
There are so many greatness contained in this, there is the history of Jamaica- we learn so much about what is happening at each time period. From the Morant Bay uprising, to the abolition of Slavery, the change in rule, there is so much social commentary that shows us the thinking at that time. There such atheneite and simplicity in how the family was depicted. I particularly loved the depiction of a family from the country because I am from the “country” part of Jamaica and a lot of what the Harvey clan went through felt so familiar.
I loved how Goodison wrote about the community the family finds themselves surrounded by. What some family member faced when migrating. Themes such as love, grief, loss, religion, migration, family and hardships are explored in such depth. I do not know how Goodison is able to convey so much in so little space.
I could gush and go on and on about this book, I wish more people would read this masterpiece.
What a beautiful memoir!
A sweeping memoir set in Jamaica starting from the 1890s to the 1950s with Lorna’s mother Doris Goodison being the center. This book is packed with history of fascinating tidbits about Jamaica, in writing about her mother, Lorna Goodison takes us in what is was like living in Jamaica during that particular time period and she did it so seamlessly. This is a beautiful memoir that I highly recommend to Jamaicans or anyone who loves history and strong females.
From Harvey River: A Memoir of my Mother and Her Island we are introduced to the Harvey family, how they came to settle in Hanover and develop an entire community around the Harvey River. Lorna introduces us to her Great Grandparents, Grandparents, and every other family member who came from English, African and Irish heritage. We meet Margret and David and their offspring who included Doris who is Lorna’s mother. Lorna writes about her mother meeting her father, moving from her childhood home of Lucea to St. Elizabeth, then to Kingston. We see how her life changes with each move and what it means to raise a family in Kingston through sheer grit.
I know I keep using the word Beautiful to describe this book but that is exactly the feeling I got when I read this book. It was pure, it was joyous and truly an ode to Jamaica, a Jamaican family and daughter honoring her mother. The book was so easy to read because of the writing, Lorna totally immerses you into the Harvey/Goodison history to the point where you felt like you knew each of them individually.
There are so many greatness contained in this, there is the history of Jamaica- we learn so much about what is happening at each time period. From the Morant Bay uprising, to the abolition of Slavery, the change in rule, there is so much social commentary that shows us the thinking at that time. There such atheneite and simplicity in how the family was depicted. I particularly loved the depiction of a family from the country because I am from the “country” part of Jamaica and a lot of what the Harvey clan went through felt so familiar.
I loved how Goodison wrote about the community the family finds themselves surrounded by. What some family member faced when migrating. Themes such as love, grief, loss, religion, migration, family and hardships are explored in such depth. I do not know how Goodison is able to convey so much in so little space.
I could gush and go on and on about this book, I wish more people would read this masterpiece.
What a beautiful memoir!
leah_b_reads's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
This memoir has touched my heart in a way I didn't expect it to I'll be honest. Another one to pass onto mommy whilst I soak up the wisdom and life lessons pulled together so beautifully in this book 🥰
surabhichatrapathy's review
3.0
From Harvey River by Lorna Goodison is a memoir of her mother and her island.
The author through her maternal family's story brings to you pre-independence life in Jamaica. She beautifully brings the food, the landscape, the language and the culture into the story. She shows the country life, the town life and the hard city life.
She introduces us to all different ethnicities living in the island as a result of colonialism. Native Indians, Africans, English and Indians. Her family belonging to the upper class of society, see both the luxuries of mingling and marrying European men. But also the downfall that came with the war and above all of not being considered English enough.
The book is a light, heartwarming read. I like how she brings in the history of the place, the art, architecture and literature, while narrating her mother's life.
The author through her maternal family's story brings to you pre-independence life in Jamaica. She beautifully brings the food, the landscape, the language and the culture into the story. She shows the country life, the town life and the hard city life.
She introduces us to all different ethnicities living in the island as a result of colonialism. Native Indians, Africans, English and Indians. Her family belonging to the upper class of society, see both the luxuries of mingling and marrying European men. But also the downfall that came with the war and above all of not being considered English enough.
The book is a light, heartwarming read. I like how she brings in the history of the place, the art, architecture and literature, while narrating her mother's life.
kikireads's review
4.0
Another 4.5er. This didn't feel like a read but a sail. 100 pages went by in 15 minutes. Heart full.
Update: December 26, 2019.
To read this is to savour sweetness beyond compare: a book that will go down your throat smooth and sweet as honey and make your heart full.
'From Harvey River' spans 3 generations of a Jamaican family from the late 19th to the late 20th c. The first half focuses on Goodison's grandmother Margaret, her husband--both the offspring of interracial couples--and their 7 children in Hanover. The second half centres her mother Doris, her parents' marriage, and their move from the plentiful countryside to "Hard Life" in Kingston, the nation's capital.
I'm not a memoir reader but I have a special relationship with Goodison's poetry. While another writer's move into memoirs would have made me curl my lips, I inwardly shrieked when I saw this book on the nonfiction shelf.
For the few days I sailed through this read--the 1st time years ago, the 2nd in February--I wore a silly grin the entire time. Goodison's Jamaican English is simply the prettiest I have ever seen: lyrical, light, buoyant, playful. It's strange but it almost didn't feel like reading, as though she had skipped a step in the process to conjure the words directly into my neural pleasure network.
To know this family is to know Jamaica. At least, a facet of Jamaican life at a particular time in the smallest island parish, Hanover. Goodison pairs family history with relevant research to reveal home, parts known and parts previously hidden behind a mist. You will not step a foot in this book's land without deft delineations of the people's history and culture palpable in every aspect of everyday life.
This is a different Jamaica than what you may have read in more popular novels but it is one of our truths, lovingly elucidated. (This includes Goodison's less than respectful/understanding portrayal of Rastafari, a far more common attitude in Jamaica than outsiders would first assume.)
Update: December 26, 2019.
To read this is to savour sweetness beyond compare: a book that will go down your throat smooth and sweet as honey and make your heart full.
'From Harvey River' spans 3 generations of a Jamaican family from the late 19th to the late 20th c. The first half focuses on Goodison's grandmother Margaret, her husband--both the offspring of interracial couples--and their 7 children in Hanover. The second half centres her mother Doris, her parents' marriage, and their move from the plentiful countryside to "Hard Life" in Kingston, the nation's capital.
I'm not a memoir reader but I have a special relationship with Goodison's poetry. While another writer's move into memoirs would have made me curl my lips, I inwardly shrieked when I saw this book on the nonfiction shelf.
For the few days I sailed through this read--the 1st time years ago, the 2nd in February--I wore a silly grin the entire time. Goodison's Jamaican English is simply the prettiest I have ever seen: lyrical, light, buoyant, playful. It's strange but it almost didn't feel like reading, as though she had skipped a step in the process to conjure the words directly into my neural pleasure network.
To know this family is to know Jamaica. At least, a facet of Jamaican life at a particular time in the smallest island parish, Hanover. Goodison pairs family history with relevant research to reveal home, parts known and parts previously hidden behind a mist. You will not step a foot in this book's land without deft delineations of the people's history and culture palpable in every aspect of everyday life.
This is a different Jamaica than what you may have read in more popular novels but it is one of our truths, lovingly elucidated. (This includes Goodison's less than respectful/understanding portrayal of Rastafari, a far more common attitude in Jamaica than outsiders would first assume.)
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