a little complicated about the people but a good story. ( )

Drumblair by Rachel Manley

Drumblair is the story of Rachel Manley’s memories of her touchstone – her home, Drumblair in Jamaica and her family. The book recounts her early life with her grandparents, Norman and Edna Manley, her father Michael and his wives and the integral contribution by her family to the political, cultural and social growth of Jamaica.

Norman, her grandfather, was an athlete, Rhodes scholar and lawyer and Edna, her grandmother, was an artist, creating sculptures. She called her grandparents Pardi and Mardi. Her father, Michael was the Prime minister of Jamaica for much of its post independence years. Their story is interesting.

Rachel, born in England to a European mother and a Jamaican father, was sent to live with her grandparents in Jamaica when she was two and a half years of age. Her mother was ill and her father was studying.

Rachel says “there was nothing spectacular” about Drumblair – “an old wooden two-storey home set back from the road” but it was “ my very best friend in the world, this big wooden house”. From the memories of the safe embrace of this home, Rachel recounts the story of her home, her family and their life.

It is interesting to read of the impact her family and her home had on the author and of the influence of the family on Jamaica. The book lacks the power and focus of other books in the same genre of family memoir. However, it is to be respected as the author’s
heartfelt memoir of her distinguished family and her beloved home, Drumblair. ( )

Rachel Manley was born in England to a European mother and a Jamaican father. When she was two and a half years old, her mother was ill, so she was sent to Jamaica to live with grandparents she had never met. In Drumblair: Memories of a Jamaican Childhood ( published by Key Porter Books) she tells the story of her life with her grandparents.

"There was nothing spectacular about the old wooden two-storey house set far back from the road. It was not even in a fashionable area, but rather poised precariously on the journey between the city and its ghettos, and the lofty slopes of the suburbs. It has often been described as elegant, but it was too visceral and self-willed a place to be so, for elegance is a product of control."

Drumblair is the house that sustained the Manleys, one of the premier families of Jamaica. Rachel's grandfather, Norman Manley, was very active in national politics and instrumental in helping Jamaica achieve independence from British rule. He was elected the first Premier of Jamaica. Her grandmother, Edna, was an artist who supported her husband in his endeavors. They were both strong, loving, compassionate people. Rachel's father, Michael, became active in one of the unions and politics, eventually becoming Prime Minister.

In Drumblair: Memories of a Jamaican Childhood , Rachel Manley gives us an inside peek of what it like to grow up in such a dynamic family. This book is her homage to them. This book won the Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction (a Canadian book award) in 1997. ( )