Amelia
Fascinating account of the Jamaican maroons in Nova Scotia. I had never learned of the maroons and reading Fireflies in Winter led me on a journey of further learning about them. The Maroons were a determined group of freedom fighters from Jamaica. For nearly a century and a half, beginning in the 1650s, they had waged an intermittent war with the British administration of the island. They wanted independence. In 1795 the administration in Jamaica decided to remove the Maroons. Three ships brought 543 men, women and children to Halifax in late June 1796.
I learned that there are descendants of Maroons today. Still living and trying to preserve the lifestyle of their ancestors.
This was a short and “easy” book- in as much as reading about anything related to slavery is. Cora is an orphan from Jamaica trying to get used to life in Nova Scotia. One day she sees prints in the snow which leads her to meet Agnes. Agnes is in hiding and somehow they foster a deep friendship. Agnes’ past closes in and they have to make difficult choices.
I’d recommend it as a great starting point in learning about the maroons from Jamaica who settled in Nova Scotia, and further into Africa.
Fascinating account of the Jamaican maroons in Nova Scotia. I had never learned of the maroons and reading Fireflies in Winter led me on a journey of further learning about them. The Maroons were a determined group of freedom fighters from Jamaica. For nearly a century and a half, beginning in the 1650s, they had waged an intermittent war with the British administration of the island. They wanted independence. In 1795 the administration in Jamaica decided to remove the Maroons. Three ships brought 543 men, women and children to Halifax in late June 1796.
I learned that there are descendants of Maroons today. Still living and trying to preserve the lifestyle of their ancestors.
This was a short and “easy” book- in as much as reading about anything related to slavery is. Cora is an orphan from Jamaica trying to get used to life in Nova Scotia. One day she sees prints in the snow which leads her to meet Agnes. Agnes is in hiding and somehow they foster a deep friendship. Agnes’ past closes in and they have to make difficult choices.
I’d recommend it as a great starting point in learning about the maroons from Jamaica who settled in Nova Scotia, and further into Africa.
The strangest, funniest and poignant book I’ve read in a long time! Mr. Percival James has a way of forcing us to take a hard look at the rotten parts of our humanity. The trees is some sort of imagined reckoning for all the lynching and abuse on black and brown bodies in America. The book opens with the gruesome murder of a white man, with the body of Emmett Till right next to it. And then more white people are murdered with that same body next to theirs. It turns out all the white bodies are related to the lynching of either emmet till or another person. What a book! Definitely recommend
The strangest, funniest and poignant book I’ve read in a long time! Mr. Percival James has a way of forcing us to take a hard look at the rotten parts of our humanity. The trees is some sort of imagined reckoning for all the lynching and abuse on black and brown bodies in America. The book opens with the gruesome murder of a white man, with the body of Emmett Till right next to it. And then more white people are murdered with that same body next to theirs. It turns out all the white bodies are related to the lynching of either emmet till or another person. What a book! Definitely recommend
This is the strangest book I’ve ever read. Short and impactful. 40 women are held in an underground bunker guarded by men. They appear to have all that they need. Life goes on for years and years. Until one day a siren goes off and they are able to escape. They escape and find more desolation and death. More and more bunkers with dead ppl. We have no sense of who has imprisoned them or the reason. The youngest child in this bunker has no past life thus no reference to anything cultural or social. Which makes her the perfect narrator for what becomes a commentary on patriarchy, human cruelty and what we do to hold on to our humanity. Such a weird little book.
This is the strangest book I’ve ever read. Short and impactful. 40 women are held in an underground bunker guarded by men. They appear to have all that they need. Life goes on for years and years. Until one day a siren goes off and they are able to escape. They escape and find more desolation and death. More and more bunkers with dead ppl. We have no sense of who has imprisoned them or the reason. The youngest child in this bunker has no past life thus no reference to anything cultural or social. Which makes her the perfect narrator for what becomes a commentary on patriarchy, human cruelty and what we do to hold on to our humanity. Such a weird little book.