"From stationmaster's daughter to wife of one of Jamaica's most charismatic prime ministers, Beverley Manley's life has been an odyssey. As a young girl, starved of her mother's love because she was darker than her siblings and forced to do housework while her sisters relaxed, Beverley was a modern-day Cinderella. Her adolescent years were painful, having to carry the burden of her self-loathing, the feeling of inferiority within her own family and the constant echo of her mother's voice telling her she was good for nothing ...
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"From stationmaster's daughter to wife of one of Jamaica's most charismatic prime ministers, Beverley Manley's life has been an odyssey. As a young girl, starved of her mother's love because she was darker than her siblings and forced to do housework while her sisters relaxed, Beverley was a modern-day Cinderella. Her adolescent years were painful, having to carry the burden of her self-loathing, the feeling of inferiority within her own family and the constant echo of her mother's voice telling her she was good for nothing. However, Beverley defied her mother's prophecy, and triumphed over her 'ordinary' beginnings first as a model in Jamaica and later becoming a household name on radio, television and the local stage. It was her path at the then Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) that would lead her directly to Michael Manley and ultimately to Jamaica House. Marriage to Michael also led to her political awakening; not content to being the docile wife, Beverley assumed an activist role in the governing People's National Party (PNP), becoming embroiled in the ideological politics of the 1970s that would eventually lead to her estrangement from Michael and the painful self-assessment that came with his affairs and her own. The resulting termination of their marriage forced on her a self-imposed exile in the US where she took refuge from the ire of the Jamaican elite for daring to walk out on one of their own. But Beverley was to redeem herself and earn new respect as a broadcaster, commentator and incisive interviewer on the immensely popular and innovative Breakfast Club radio show. Now older and much wiser, Beverley tells it like it is in this intriguing and revealing memoir. It is a rags to riches story - almost; a story of triumph and loss; of rising again and finally of redemption. "
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
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Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 284 p. Contains: Unspecified. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Beverly Manley writes in an easy style that encourages one to keep reading. Her prose vividly portrays a life begun as a railroad master's daughter in a Jamaica as it was striving to gain independence from England, and in a time when women were trying to gain independence from the shadow of male dominance.
Her portrayal of her mother as a strict, stern disciplinarian is hard to read sometimes however this reader realizes how difficult it must have been for her mother to raise daughters to be independent of men in the 1950s while she herself is denied a career outside of the home. It does seem that later on in life mother and daughter become more compatible.
Beverly's life takes her from Jamaica to London where she becomes a model and then back home again where she meets and coaches the charismatic, future prime minister, Michael Manley, in the art of public speaker....long before she becomes his 4th(?) wife.
Enjoyed reading this book very much.... for the history, for the education about island life, for the very personal experience of being a black woman in a culture where being lighter skinned was being more accepted in mainstream society.
