Book Review – Home Again stories of migration and return

Book Review

Sorhaindo, Celia and Pattullo, Polly – Home Again stories of migration and return, London and Roseau, Dominica, Papillote Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9532224-5-2, £9.99

By Darren Sylvester & Dawn Celaire Robinson

We had the early advantage of reading this book in May 2009 thanks to Dr David Michael purchasing a copy for us while on holiday in Dominica.  The book was not on sale in the UK until August 2009.  The Foreword describes that the purpose of the book was to ‘catalogue the journeys and experiences of individual Dominican returnees and thereby break the “Wall of Silence” that all too frequently encourages suspicion and prejudice’. It is also apparent that a secondary purpose was to highlight the need for all Dominicans to show tolerance, respect and understanding to each other; to establish common goals and work together for the continued development of the country.

The authors make an attempt at fulfilling these purposes, but all too often many questions remain unresolved. The authors selected twenty individuals to feature in the book and there is one entry from a married couple.  It is not entirely clear (apart from being a returnee) what other criterion was used for selecting the individuals to feature in this book.  It is our view that had some broader selection criteria been used, then a greater focus would have been achieved.

The audience for this book will fall into two principal categories: 1) persons looking at emigrating to Dominica, irrespective of whether or not they are at or near retirement age; or 2) readers who are interested in the struggles that many black persons endured after their arrival in England and how such struggles were generally overcome. 

There is certainly a consensus of opinion that English returnees generally experience difficulties returning and settling back into life in Dominica after being away for a certain period of time.  There are frequent references of Dominicans who have never left the Island who reportedly lack gratitude, charge higher prices for work undertaken, and have an attitude of hostility towards English returnees. The book would have benefited hugely from each individual having been given a general structure by which to convey their account, with the option for them to write on matters unique to their experiences. However, the way each individual has compiled their account leads to a lack of any real coherence, clarity, structure and fullness of development. 

Many of the accounts feel there is a need for dialogue to occur to eliminate any misconceptions between returnees and local Dominicans.  Furthermore, there is a school of thought that the government of Dominica should initiate such a programme and/or be doing more to ensure a harmonious transition for returnees into Dominican life and culture on the island. 

Many of the accounts are conveyed in a style and use of language that is inappropriate for literary works.  This could have been avoided had substantial editing or proofreading occurred before publishing. Mention is made of returnees’ experiences with builders, however, detailed analysis of the issues – or specific pitfalls to avoid – are not very well articulated. The returnees’ accounts of business experiences, customer relations, lack of professionalism and the alleged heavy resistance to change management were all topics that deserved better analysis.  There was a conspicuous absence of forward thinking from all of the contributions with reference to how the resettlement of returnees to Dominica could improve in the long run and what specific steps should be implemented along the way.

Whilst it could be argued that the “Wall of Silence” has been broken by the advent of this book, the lack of crystallization of themes or concepts explored illustrates little on the agenda to actively or purposefully contribute to any debate. In conclusion there is no groundbreaking analysis and for that reason it could be questioned whether this publication is at all authoritative on the subject of returning to live on the Nature Island

Darren Sylvester was a former Projects Officer and Hon. Treasurer of the DONA and is a Trustee of the Dominica Oversea Nationals Association Aid Dominica Development Trust. His website is www.darrensylvester.com and his blog on UK legal issues and law can be viewed at www.interalialegal.com

Dawn Celaire Robinson is a former student of the Convent High School in Dominica and a member of the Dominican Diaspora Social Networking site at www.dominican-diaspora.com; she is an IT Software trainer and courseware writer for a London international law firm and has successfully gained Fellowship of the Institute of IT Training.