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Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
Bones in the Alley: A Journey to Self-Awareness That Began on the Island of Barbados is a non-fiction memoir written by Viterose Van Huis. The author was born to an unmarried teenager in Barbados in the late 1940s. At that time, teenage or unmarried pregnancies were considered disgraceful, and the supposed sin of the mother was indeed passed down to the child in the way Barbadian society treated her. Van Huis' mother worked while she was growing up, and she often had little or no adult supervision. While she found some comfort and solace in the homes of caring neighbors or relatives, she missed the contact and support of a parent. Her mother was just too busy, however, and her father had left the country. Life was strictly structured according to religious dogma, and when the author was raped when she was a child, her mother beat her when she found out. Although Van Huis first became pregnant herself when she was just fourteen years old, she would ensure that each of her four children had parental support and mentoring, and received a college education.
I experienced some difficulty putting down Viterose Van Huis' inspiring non-fiction memoir, Bones in the Alley: A Journey to Self-Awareness That Began on the Island of Barbados. Her story is told simply and fearlessly, and I soon was totally immersed in her most compelling life story. I loved reading about her first homes in New Hampshire, especially how she took on the necessary home repair jobs herself and set about planting gardens in a new climate. Her discussions on spirituality and the dogmatic precepts of many organized religions are thoughtful, and her long-term marriage to a man she had never loved for the sake of her children and her religious beliefs are testaments to her strong sense of commitment, loyalty and faith. That said, I cheered as she resolved her marriage issues, and was overjoyed when she joined her children in attending college and getting a degree. Van Huis' story is life-affirming and powerful, and I'm hoping to see more literary offerings from this talented author. Bones in the Alley: A Journey to Self-Awareness That Began on the Island of Barbados is most highly recommended.
