MAGNA—A Memoir of the Enduring Human Spirit—Dr. Reynolds’ Finest

A book review by Modeste Downes

Set in the Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia, with glimpses of a past when its inhabitants lived a life of near-biblical proportions—by the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread—and when the luxuries and comforts of a sophisticated civilization had not yet quite arrived, this one is definitely a page-turner.

The majesty of Anderson Reynolds’ literary craftsmanship is manifested in this heart-wrenching memoir of a beloved mother and matriarch as she lay on her sick bed, marking a dramatic turn in her hitherto extraordinarily active life. A multi-layered construct, it recounts the story of a close-knit family, with all the details bared, not dissimilar to a finished work of Picasso, or a Dunstan St. Omer (Saint Lucia’s foremost painter).

The author as narrator introduces a family of modest beginnings, originating in rural, post-colonial Saint Lucia, capturing for the reader every stage of its journey and growth, its struggles and occupational hazards, its internal rivalries and shenanigans, as well as its moments of joy, successes and triumphs. It portrays a husband and wife who knew no limits to the sacrifices they would make to ensure the best for the growing family. It tells of a mother, especially, who would even jettison her avowed religious principles to secure a better life for her loved ones. Its main focus, however, and the thread that holds its several strands together, is the situation that concerns a seemingly dying mother who will not go quietly but is intent on “rage against the dying of the light.” Though bedridden, she poses untold challenges to all and sundry, even in her condition of total dependency on others, her medical care routine shifting variously between home and hospital.

As he navigates between a dying mother and confronting the reality of a future without her, the writer seizes the opportunity to expose the state of culture, religion, politics and social conditions of the day. In this way, he constructs a canvas that mirrors the environment that brought forth and shaped the family and that outstanding figure of a woman. And he does all that in a writing style that is exceptionally lucid and incredibly unrelenting in its candor. There are moments in the narrative in which Reynolds might appear to be somewhat extravagant in detail, but that is because he wants the reader to grasp the frame in its completeness.

What is also patently clear is that the writing is unbridled in its laudatory acknowledgement of the mother figure. The caregiver daughter (the writer’s eldest sister) is equally duly acknowledged for her unflinching commitment and devotion to the bedridden parent.

Significantly, it turns out that this is also a story about the narrator/author himself, that traces his life from infancy through adulthood—a life in which the process of bonding between mother and child, while he is yet a toddler, is so badly damaged, and the child so psychologically and emotionally bruised, that it takes nothing less than her ailing final moments and death for him to arrive at a self-proclaimed reconciliation.

In its closing chapters, the author shares his thoughts on a number of life lessons that would serve anyone who reads the book in good stead. They provide the reader a close-up of the writer’s state of mind, the depth of his ratiocination on certain issues, and clear insights into his personality, in a manner hardly encountered in most similar publications.

This book is destined to be one of Reynolds’ finest. Though generous in its measure of tangential details, it reads nearly as smoothly, and as entertainingly, as any Hemingway, Dylan Thomas or Toni Morrison.

According to Dr. Reynolds, both Magna and his other recently published book, The Promised Land, are now available on Amazon and will be available in St. Lucia by the end of May.  Upon arrival of the books in St. Lucia, Dr. Reynolds promises to visit the island’s secondary schools and conduct book signings and readings throughout the island, and hopefully, as well as in Barbados, New York, Atlanta, and other North American cities.

Other Reviews of MAGNA

Readers’ Favorite Gives MAGNA 5-Star Reviews
Booklife Selects MAGNA as its Editor’s Pick