Beryl Gilroy transports the reader back to the Guyanese village of her
childhood over sixty years ago to meet such characters as Mr Dewsbury
the Dog Doctor, Mama Darlin' the village midwife and Mr Cumberbatch the
Chief Mourner. It was a time when "children did not have open access to
the world of adults and childhood had not yet disappeared", and perhaps
for this reason, the men and women who pass through these stories have a
mystery and singularity which are as unforgettable for the reader as
they were for the child.
Beryl Gilroy brings back to life a whole, rich Afro-Guyanese village
community, where there were old people who had been slaves as children
and Africa was not forgotten.
"Beryl Gilroy is an artist. She wields her pen the way an artist wields
a paintbrush. A few firm lines, a few quick strokes, a touch of color
here, a splash of color there, precise shading elsewhere, and presto! A
portrait in miniature. Gilroy's vignettes in her collection entitled
Sunlight on Sweet Water, do indeed dance like sunlight on the sweet
water of the Caribbean or sunlight reflected from Guiana's numerous
waterways. They are pithy portraits of persons, places, objects, and
events which allow the Caribbean reader to revel in nostalgia and permit
the non-Caribbean a peek into that part of the region that is not
dressed up to lure tourists. These short pieces reveal the heart and
soul of the area and remind the world that the Caribbean, travel
brochures to the contrary, is not just a playground for the idle and
not-so-idle rich. The Caribbean is home to those persons who have
traveled out, and to those who have remained to keep the hearth burning
and the heart alive and well."
Phyllis Briggs-Emanuel, The Caribbean Writer
Beryl Gilroy came to London over fifty years ago from Guyana. She
wrote six novels, two autobiographical books and was a pioneering
teacher and psychotherapist. Sadly, she died in 2000 at the age of 76.
