Book Review:An engaging and poignant memoir

Title: The Eagle Stays on Top - A Memoir

Author: Janice Brown-Roberts

Publisher: ArthorHouse

Reviewer: Paul Williams

Janice Brown-Roberts's maternal grandmother died when Janice's mother, Ina, was 12 years old. Her death was followed by a life of severe hardship and suffering for Ina, who died at age 60. In The Eagle Stays on Top - A Memoir, Brown-Roberts, in an engaging and poignant way, rehashes her mother's challenges, and her own struggles and determination to release her mother (Mama) and her family from the grips of poverty.

It is a memoir that many people from rural Jamaica can relate to, and some readers will find themselves reminiscing and reflecting on their own lives from the stories Brown-Roberts tells, in a style that is a mixture of the comedic and the dramatic. Her own life, in many ways, mirrors that of her mother's, and underlining it all was the deep-seated love that they had for each other.

In this 238-page paperback, published by AuthorHouse, this year, Brown-Roberts uses anecdotes from her family's struggles to unmask the foibles and strengths of the human spirit. You will read about pregnancies, fatherlessness, abandonment, unrequited love, unemployment, unadulterated love, wickedness, servitude, unspeakable hunger, abuse, births, illnesses, deaths, etc.

STAGES OF LIFE

Imagine a little girl witnessing her own mother giving birth. "Mama screamed. She was still gripping my hand, firmly. Mama screamed again. I heard a little squeaky sound. That sound was not coming from my mother. The baby was here. It flushed out on the fluffy towel that, by then, I realised was placed there to create a buffer for the infant," she recollects.

That infant grew up to be a young woman who got pregnant just as she was about to enter teachers' college, and who died shortly in a motor vehicle accident a few months after giving birth. Her death tore Brown-Roberts apart. She cried all the way from Kingston to her mother's house in Clarendon. At one point, things got so overwhelming that nature called while she was on a bus on one leg of the journey. This is what she did:

"I got off the bus and dashed into a yard unknown to me. From a distance, I caught sight of an outdoor latrine. I had no time to watch out for guard dogs in the yard, which is a common practice for most homes in the country. I was in the latrine and that was an immediate need at the moment," she writes.

KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

She was in the latrine crying, while an elderly couple in the yard was searching for the 'shadow'that 'flew' into the yard. Another outburst of tears, followed by groans. The sound drew the couple closer to the toilet. She then came face to face with the female of the couple to whom she apologised. The woman understood. She stayed with her at the side of the road until she boarded another van. Lifting the hem of her dress to dry her tears, she raised her hands feebly to bid her goodbye, she recalls.

Yet, to me, the part that is most unsettling was when her mother's husband, Desmond, once returned from 'farm work'.

"I cannot recall if there were goodies among the items for the children, but I knew nothing was there for me. I saw the concern on Mama's face. I guess she knew what I was thinking, and so she gave me one of the pleated skirts she received from her spouse. The skirt was later taken to the dressmaker to have it altered to fit me," Brown-Roberts relates.

This event came after someone stole Desmond's identity and he didn't get to go back on the programme for a few years. It was a time of great hardship, and when Janice Brown couldn't take it anymore, on her way from school, the girl approached a politician who distributed farm work cards to ask him for a chance for her stepfather.

His response was: "You are a very brave girl, how comes you are asking for a card for your stepfather and you know your family does not support the political party I support."

However, after speaking with his wife that night, the politician relented, and Desmond subsequently got a card. He went on the programme a few more times, and eventually deserted his family in Jamaica.

A STORY OF PERSEVERANCE

Janice became the backbone of the family, working in Kingston and having her own challenges that would drive some insane. It was just not good, and when everything - including her brassieres and slips - was falling apart, she kept the wind under her wings blowing.

She writes: "The few brassieres I own were quite worn. The elastic that provided support for the undergarments were exhausted. One evening, on my way home from work, one of my brassiere straps broke . It was about 45 minutes of using one hand to hold on to an upper rail to control my balance and, with the help of the other hand, using my handbag to cup the breast that escaped from the sack."

The Eagle Stays on Top is a memoir of suffering, survival, resilience, determination, and redemption that will make you get angry, cry and laugh, and wondering when it will be made into a movie.