Waltzes I Have Not Forgotten

by Bernadette Gabay Dyer

Traversing the Caribbean, Europe, America and China, ;Waltzes I Have Not Forgotten ;recounts the tale of John Moneague, a man who was born into poverty in the backstreets of Kingston, Jamaica. As a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0889614431
• ISBN13: 9780889614437
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Women's Press Literary
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.4" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

The Beat Goes On

WALTZES I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN takes readers on a historical tour, which nicely captures the ambiance of early 1900s Jamaica and Europe. It chronicles the tale of John Moneague, a product of the rape of his impoverished Jamaican mother, apparently at the hands of a Caucasian sailor. After his mother's brutal murder, John is raised by an old Chinese woman, who dies, leaving John at the tender age of 10. John then becomes the charge of a young Caucasian-American woman, Miss Shaw, who is drawn to John because he reminds her of her nephew, who had been murdered along with her brother and his wife, a black woman, in an impossibly racist America. When Miss Shaw has to return to America to care for her ailing father, John finds himself in the care of a Jewish couple, the Meitners, who soon thereafter, forge documents and carry him off to Europe. The saga continues as a pubescent John finds himself deeply entrenched in their very elaborate forged identity scheme, to help Jews escape Germany. For a while, life continues on even keel for John, then financial woes set in unexpectedly and John finds that Mrs. Meitner has a dirty secret, which is exposed with calamitous results. Drawing on her knowledge of historical facts of the period, Dyer writes a fascinating story of intrigue, lust and deception. The story spans a vast landscape from John's early years in the poverty stalked, tropical island of Jamaica to a life of privilege in cold, foggy England. The author has an admirable feel for the time and place and pens a story that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned. Reviewed by Autumn of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

A Waltz to be Remembered

Waltzes I Have Not Forgotten, by Bernadette Gabay Dyer, is a story about John Moneague. John is the product of a brutal rape that his mother suffered by a gang of white men. Hungry and homeless, John's mother finds herself pregnant and begging for crumbs on the crime laden streets of Jamaica. After a particularly brutal day, John's mother wanders into a grocery store owned by a local Chinese woman and goes into labor. On the floor of the store, she gives birth to a beautiful baby boy that looks Caucasian with grey eyes. Madam Hung Chin takes John and his mother in and loves them as if they were her own. Although she's barely getting by, she shares everything she has with them. When John's mother is murdered, the aging Hung Chin raises John. She teaches him Chinese customs and on the day before she dies, they dance their last waltz. Devastated, John runs to a white woman that befriended him at school, Mrs. Shaw. Mrs. Shaw nurtures and loves John, and just when John begins to heal, Mrs. Shaw receives notice that her father is dying and that she must leave Jamaica and return to Chicago. Before Mrs. Shaw leaves however, she secures a place for her beloved John to live with Dr. and Mrs. Meitner until she returns. Without warning, John is forced to leave Jamaica and go to London with the Meitners who are involved in the Jewish movement in Europe. The Meitners are good to John and provide him with a quality education, but John's heart aches for the life he once knew. Even though John becomes an accomplished journalist and his life in England is good, Madam Chin, Mrs. Shaw and a land called Jamaica holds his heart. I found this book to be a beautiful piece of literary art. Richly written, Dyer takes the reader on a historical trip through World War I and the Holocaust. She eases the reader from one cultural experience to the next with ease and grace. With each page the reader is captivated by a boy who fights the odds, becomes a man and dances his last waltz to the tune of victory. If you are in to quality, no nonsense fiction, Waltzes I Have Not Forgotten, By Bernadette Gabay Dyer, is your book. T. RHYTHM KNIGHTAPOOO BookClub

Waltzes I Have Not Forgotten

Author Bernadette Gabay Dyer offers us a novel about a young man conceived out of a rape between a Black woman and a white man in Jamaica, West Indies. John Moneague, who is at the center of Dyer's novel, Waltzes I Have Not Forgotten, recounts his life story from the moment he is born in the back streets of Kingston, Jamaica at the turn of the last century and the subsequent stages of his life.As he states in his introduction, history will recount the earthquakes and hurricanes that occurred in Jamaica, "but it will not record the riveting circumstances of my birth, in the back streets of Kingston, or my subsequent life."After his mother is murdered, John comes under the guardianship of a Chinese woman, Madam Hung Chin, where John learns to speak Hakka, a Chinese dialect.Sadly, Madame Chin dies and John moves in with an American woman, Fiona Shaw, who makes sure that John receives a proper education.Unfortunately, Ms. Shaw is obliged to return to the USA, and John becomes the adopted son of Jewish couple, the Meitners, although his adoption was never legally formalized.While living with the Meitners, John becomes embroiled in the Meitners' noble cause of saving European Jewry from the terrible hardships they had been incurring prior to and up to the holocaust. Eventually, the Meitners are obliged to leave Jamaica for London, England with John and members of their household. Once in England, the Meitners continue carrying out their heroic and clandestine work. One of the principal difficulties encountered by many writers transcending genre is adapting to a new literary environment. Dyer is best known for her short-fiction, playwriting and poetry skills. This is Dyer's first novel, and although she has a knack of telling a good story, I did detect some weaknesses in fully developing her characters and story.At times, I felt that there was a lack of good drama, particularly the scenes where the principal protagonist was carrying out some very dangerous tasks. I also felt that the struggles of the supporting characters as well as the main protagonist were not as vivid as they should have been.Norm Goldman Editor of Bookpleasures.com