B.G. Bhagee: Memories of a Colonial Childhood

B.G. is British Guiana; Bhagee is a fiery local stew. Philippa was the second daughter in a family of six children growing up in mid-20th century in colonial Guyana. She recounts her Sisyphean trials growing up a Carrington in Lot 10, First Street, Georgetown -- from the women's battles to the neighbours that never wore clothes to the relatives who walked with their shoes in their hands. Her stories come from a lost civilization of pre-independence stability just as the anarchic blessing of democracy came to the Caribbean. Her escapes came by winning scholarships -- first to Bishops, the prestigious girls' school where new trials and adventures awaited her, and later to Connecticut College.