115
PowerList 2008
Book
Ellah Wakatama Allfrey
BiBliophiles generally claim that there is no Million and more’ warns from the very first page that
such thing as a favourite book. it depends on the the knowledge of those who lived and died in captivity
day and the need. For the assurance of perfect will not allow it. Based on the true story of a runaway
craftsmanship there is Julian Barnes or segun slave, Margaret garner, who, faced with recapture, chose
afolabi, for the comfort of faultless storytelling to murder her children rather than see them taken back
there is Thomas hardy, for deep immersion and into enslavement, this is an uncompromising story of loss,
escape there is the wonder of octavia Butler or accountability, love and finally – maybe – redemption.
iain M Banks. But my stand-on-the-pavement- of course, every book belongs to the reader when
with-a-loudhailer book is Toni Morrison’s they are lost in its pages. so i am sure this one is about a
Beloved. This is the one i would legislate as a lot more besides. in shona, the name Mudiwa (Beloved)
must-read for every woman, man and child. is common – i came to the book with an understanding
in her pulitzer prize-winning fifth novel, Ms that this was a perfectly sensible name for a mother’s ‘best
Morrison tells the story of sethe, a former slave who lives with her thing’. i read it first through the eyes of the sister, Denver,
daughter, Denver, in a house haunted by the ghost of a dead baby. an who has to battle for her mother’s attention. Then i read it as a
angry dead baby. When a young woman turns up on their doorstep, young woman trying to find a way into the history of the americans
sethe is convinced it is her lost daughter, Beloved, and in her efforts i was living among. now i read it as a mother, acknowledging that
to placate this strange, demanding foundling, she almost destroys love for my children could easily drive me to do the unthinkable and
her family. Denver, sethe’s lover, paul D and the old man stamp desperate for my daughters to prepare for their futures by learning
paid know that Beloved’s presence heralds upheaval – but they are of the lives lived by black women.
powerless in the face of sethe’s guilty, obsessive, motherlove.
Beloved is not an easy read. it is painful, disturbing and Ellah Wakatama Allfrey is Senior Editor at Jonathan Cape
unforgettable. one wishes for a happy ending, but the epigraph ‘sixty Beloved, by Toni Morrison, is published by Vintage Classics
Hotel
Michael Eboda
groWing up there was a room in our house that was out of bounds
to my sisters and me. it was the visitors’ sitting room and it was so
special that everything in it was protected by plastic. The settee had a
plastic cover on it, there was a plastic runner on the floor to guard the
carpet, and even the radiogram was covered with a plastic doiley.
it doubled as my mum’s sanctuary and on the rare occasion that
she could get away from us, that was where she’d be, listening to one
of her myriad Jim reeves albums. you got the impression that, in her equipped fitness centre, shopping at the marina village, a beach that
perfect world, she alone would know the place existed. you get to by a free two-minute ferry ride, good food and drink, two
strangely, my favourite hotel reminds me of that room. oK, the fantastic pools and a great ambience – and it doesn’t cost the earth.
décor is more to my taste (they’ve foregone the synthetic protection The rooms and suites are exquisite and come equipped with all
ritual), but, like my mum, i’m reluctant to let anyone in on the secret the mod cons you’d expect of a five-star resort. But those you can
because i regard it, quite selfishly, as my own personal space. get anywhere if you spend enough money. What you can’t buy is the
nestled in the hills that line the south side of st lucia’s incredibly attitude of the friendly and helpful staff, who convince you, without
picturesque Marigot Bay, Discovery is exactly what a modern-day being sycophantically subservient, that your presence is valued.
luxury Caribbean hotel should be: unobtrusive, well-designed, eco- so, if it’s been a hard few months and work has left you emotionally
friendly and distinctive. Marigot is located just six or seven miles and physically shattered, you probably need to get away. and the truth
away from the commercial and tourism hub of the island, rodney Bay, is, Discovery should be high up on your list of possible destinations.
but in terms of ambience it could almost be on another planet. personally, though, i’d rather you went somewhere else.
The architects have done a wonderful job of synching the hotel
with the natural landscape. and it manages to offer everything Michael Eboda is founder and publisher of Powerlist 2008
anyone would need for a stress-busting break – a first-class spa, a well-
www.discoverystlucia.com
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