Revenge: A Tale of Old Jamaica (1919) is a novel by H. G. de Lisser.
Born and raised in Jamaica, H. G. de Lisser was one of the leading
Caribbean writers of the early twentieth century. Concerned with issues
of race, urban life, and modernization, de Lisser dedicated his career
to representing the lives and concerns of poor and middle-class
Jamaicans. In Revenge: A Tale of Old Jamaica, de Lisser portrays the
deadly Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865, a protest by poor black laborers
unsatisfied with the economic and political establishment and the
widespread lack of opportunity for freedmen in Jamaica. In response to a
period of scarcity brought on by drought and disease, as well as to acts
of police brutality against peaceful protestors, a group of several
hundred Jamaicans led by Paul Bogle took to the streets in an effort to
fight for their rights. In de Lisser's fictionalized version of events,
he explores the experiences of white and black Jamaicans in the days
leading up to the violence. As signs of unrest grow impossible to
ignore, those in power prove more than willing to reject the pleas of
the oppressed, writing their anger off as nothing more than a passing
phase. Seated on their veranda overlooking the mountains of the Jamaican
countryside, the Carlton family observes a series of fires growing in
the nearby hills. While the women see them as a sign of violence to
come, the men seem entirely unphased by the threat of an uprising. In
response to his mother's fears, Dick Carlton attempts to calm her: "'Our
people are just now passing through one of their periodical fits of
depression, and you will probably hear them expressing fears of negro
uprisings and all that sort of thing [...] and you may be frightened.
Don't allow yourself to be. The danger is purely imaginary.'" As night
falls with no end to the fires, however, and as the songs and cries of
the oppressed grow closer, his sense of security will prove a foolish
thing indeed. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally
typeset manuscript, this edition of H. G. de Lisser's Revenge: A Tale
of Old Jamaica is a classic of Jamaican literature reimagined for
modern readers.
