BOOK REVIEW BY GUYANESE-CANADIAN AUTHOR KEN PUDDICOMBE
Guyanese born, American domiciled author Rosaliene Bacchus follows up her first book—Under The Tamarind Tree with another set in the only English speaking country of Guyana in South America. While the first is centered on events occurring mainly in the capital Georgetown, The Twisted Circle is set in the North West district, a region of the country bordering Venezuela on the west and sparsely inhabited mainly by the native Amerindian tribes. Both books, however, dwell on the post-independence period of the country, a period of turmoil, racial conflict, and endemic corruption.
From the author’s Bio: The Twisted Circle is inspired by real events that took place during my final year in a Catholic convent in Guyana…to embark on a journey to a time and place that caused me grief. It’s easy to visualize the context in which the story is narrated and for the reader to relate to the circumstances in which the author was placed as a nun. Indeed, one can easily pick up on the not too subtle nuances of inner conflict in the book that could well have been written in the first person, and can’t help but wonder: Would it have been more influential and relevant?
The Twisted Circle revolves between the story of two nuns, Sister Frances Adler of Ohio USA, and Sister Barbara, of mixed-race, as told by their points of view.
Ten years after independence from Britain, the country is still trying to shake off its colonial past while attempting to negotiate its way through a world dominated by the cold war and superpower politics of America and Russia. Indeed, Sister Barbara’s antagonist is her fellow nun American Sister Frances, trying to impose her will on the young nun. In the events leading up to her relocation to Mabaruma, Sister Barbara is soon caught between a Catholic Church still dwelling in its paternalistic approach to religion and Christianity and ongoing cases of sexual abuse and predatory practices of its clergy that dominate the story.
The book is filled with local vernacular and travelogue type descriptions of the sparsely populated region that few Guyanese visit or are familiar with, the bulk of the population being located on the coastland facing the Atlantic Ocean.
Early in the book, the author sets the stage for the ride that readers are taken on with her poetic prose of the tropical rainforest: majestic, mysterious, menacing and the upcoming conflict between the two nuns. This, along with Sister Barbara’s unfolding crisis of conscience, in a country swiftly heading into dictatorship is well described: The bitter legacy of slavery and indentureship still infested their minds and flowed through their veins. Hope for change dangled like a kite caught on an electric wire and her role as an educator seemed more like a trapeze artist on a tight rope suspended over a river infested with flesh-eating piranha (a South American fish with razor-sharp teeth).
A growing conflict between Guyanese Sister Barbara of mixed heritage (Dougla in local terms) and American nun Sister Frances can be viewed as a metaphor for a young country’s desire to establish itself as it strives to maintain its independence amid growing American hegemony in the region. Along with that, Sister Barbara has her own inner conflict with which to cope.
The book alternates between the points of view of Sister Barbara and American Sister Frances who is trying to escape from her own demons. The American nun is a manipulator extraordinaire and never stops trying to extend her circle of influence over those with whom she comes in contact. One can easily see how and why she has chosen this almost isolated region to practice her subterfuge.
The book is filled with tropical and mysterious vibrations: The half-eaten moon cast an eerie glow on the trees outside. Boisterous, nocturnal creatures exchanged secrets. The whistling sound flowed by below her window, heading towards the creek. These are all fodder for locals who dwell in an environment deep in the hinterland, far removed from the capital city of Georgetown, and where the church plays a major role in education and upbringing. The book gives us an interesting background into the various Amerindian tribes inhabiting the region.
Echoes of the Jonestown debacle (November 19, 1978) also features in the book, Jonestown and Kaituma being located not too far from Mabaruma where the book is set.
The diocese is not without its petty rivalry and everyday trifling jealousies among the clergy and soon enough, open enmity between Sister Barbara and Sister Frances who resents the fact that her junior, Sister Barbara is appointed acting Head Mistress of the school when the principal is transferred without much notice, rise to the surface. Resentment turns into open hostility as the other nuns and staff are polarized to take sides. As a reader, I am left agape at the extent of the petty rivalries practiced in a religious setting.
Thinly disguised allusions to the politics and politicians and events highlight the book. An opposition party leader Camara is Walter Rodney who was assassinated in 1980 in the capital. The Comrade Leader is no other than the leader of the ruling party, someone who declared himself President for life. And the country is remorselessly heading into a dictatorship. Corruption is rampant. The administration flirts openly with Cuba, and people, even members of the clergy, address one another as “comrade.”
The Twisted Circle makes for a terrific follow-up to the author’s first book and sheds badly needed light on an era and place in Guyana’s history that has barely been touched on in the country’s literature.
~ KEN PUDDICOMBE IS THE AUTHOR OF TWO NOVELS, A SHORT STORY COLLECTION, AND A POETRY COLLECTION. HE LIVES IN ONTARIO, CANADA. THE REVIEW WAS POSTED ON HIS BLOG JANUARY 23, 2022.
