Because You Were There 9781803781129 Paperback

Because You Were There

Lewis, Joan (author)

(1 review)
Format: Paperback
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Tina was silent for a second. Then she shut her desk lid with a reverberating slam and stood up."You wouldn't dare," she challenged. "What about Denise? You're only getting at me because I'm black."Tina, a bright and rebellious ten-year-old from Jamaica, leaves her homeland in 1968 to join her mother in Britain. But instead of receiving a warm welcome, Tina is forced to attend an ESN school, where she is treated as inferior due to her Jamaican heritage. Eventually, in desperation, she writes a cry for help in the form of a poem, giving it to the one teacher she trusts. But her teacher, Felicity, ignores her hidden plea, though as the years go by she remains haunted by the memory of the vulnerable teenager. Fifty years later, Tina and Felicity cross paths again, and as Felicity grows closer to Tina's family, she wonders if she will ever be able to make amends for the cruelties that Tina has suffered in the interim.
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  • 4
    Well worth reading

    Posted by Lew Bryan on 12th Dec 2023

    This touching account of Felicity, a young teacher's growing awakening (woke-ening?) of the trauma suffered by her young Caribbean immigrant pupil, clearly misplaced into a special school for children with learning difficulties, is sensitively written and threads a delicate and heartening path…

    This touching account of Felicity, a young teacher's growing awakening (woke-ening?) of the trauma suffered by her young Caribbean immigrant pupil, clearly misplaced into a special school for children with learning difficulties, is sensitively written and threads a delicate and heartening path that takes the, by now retired, protagonist back to the scene of her early career. By this time, many years later, the now well established British-Caribbean community is suffering new traumas and indignities as a consequence of the so called hostile environment, newly deployed by the British government. Settling in to her new home, Felicity becomes aware of this growing issue and soon get involved with an unexpected outcome which leaves her feeling both vindicated and guilty. A partly true story about a little known subject in recent British history with consequences stretching from the 60s to the present day. Well worth reading.

Authors:
Lewis, Joan
Year Published:
2023
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781803781129
Number of Pages:
234
Publication Date:
25/04/2023
Publisher:
Cranthorpe Millner Publishers
Language:
English
SKU:
9781803781129

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