In Remembrance of Her
by Denise Harris

• National Library and Information System Authority, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago

Publisher of Nominated Edition
Peepal Tree Press Ltd.
ISBN 1900715996

Why does the Judge, a powerful, wealthy man bring his world crashing down by murdering his son, Baby-Boy? What is the Beggarman up to when he is seen walking away from the Judge's house with Baby Boy on the day of the murder? Why does Blanche Steadman, servant in the Judge's house, so fear the Beggarman's presence? What is the significance of the dress of feathers that flames and burns in the eyes of anyone who sees it? How does all this relate to the tragic death of the Judge's first wife, who was born with a caul over her eyes, the witness bearer, the prophetic conscience of both the present and the past?

Set in Guyana, In Remembrance of Her is full of unforgettable characters like Disguile with his dreams of a new empire ruled by Black men, Irene Gittings who succumbs to the dreadful temptation to change the course of the Caul girl's life, cross-dressing Baby-Boy with his white painted face, and Blanche Steadman, who with her enlarging vision becomes a warmly sympathetic guide for the reader to the unfolding mysteries of the story.

What emerges, beyond the individual tragedies, is the picture of a wilfully amnesiac society that shuts its eyes and ears to past and present suffering. What Harris's gothic, richly poetic novel shows is the need for a new compassion if the restless dead are to find release and cruelty, pain, guilt and retribution are not to be endlessly recycled.

Denise Harris was born in Guyana, the daughter of the novelist Wilson Harris. She worked for UNICEF for many years, in Beijing, Barbados and Jamaica, where she also worked as a freelance photographer. She currently lives in Barbados.