book review
Title: … and the Sirens Still Wail
Author: Nancy Burke
Publisher: MacMillan Caribbean Writers
Reviewer: Barbara Nelson
… and the Sirens Still Wail is Nancy Burke's first published work and the first non-fiction title to appear in the Macmillan Caribbean Writers series.
Born in Long Island, New York, Burke trained as a dancer and for many years worked the Caribbean cruise ship circuit. Her husband Richard is a singer - "one of those musically gifted people who opens his mouth and pure tones gently flow out effortlessly".
Together they entertained the guests on the large cruise ships that sailed in and out of the port of New York City.
The couple wanted to retire from New York to a place where there was "clean air, sunshine and friendly people". In June 1992 they were on their way to the "beautiful and verdant" Montserrat in the Lesser Antilles.
Burke writes that the island's "link to an Irish heritage lends an unusual twist of Irish surnames to people who claim their heritage to be a mixture of Irish immigrants and African slaves. Their homes were scattered about the island in communities with mostly Irish names."
experienced hurricanes
Montserrat is 39 square miles in size and sits on the rim of the Atlantic and Caribbean tectonic plates. It has, like other Caribbean islands, experienced hurricanes and earth tremors. In 1993, however, the small tremors did not impress the population that they were signals that the Soufriere Hills Volcano was waking from its 350-year slumber.
On September 17, 1996, the volcano erupted.
A little-known fact is that in the mid-1960s, a Pan Am plane crashed on a mountain in Montserrat on September 17, killing all people on board.
Again on September 17, in 1989, Hurricane Hugo, packing winds of over 200 miles an hour, stalled over Montserrat for more than two days
From the day the volcano erupted Nancy's life changed dramatically.
Writing in clear, simple language, the author describes all the details that the "unthinkable event" brought into her life and the lives of people on the island. How "safe" and "unsafe" zones were created. How the ash was "the most invasive thing" she ever experienced. Nothing could keep it out, "no door, no window … it is on your toothbrush, in your bed, in your fridge and in the oven".
draws reader in
Without becoming melodramatic, she draws the reader into the experiences she had in Montserrat and the effect they had on her and on other people. She tells how animals were visibly affected by the volcanic eruptions - "the sulphuric acid in the ash started eating away the fur around their necks and armpits".
Since she and her husband love animals and always had pets, many people in the ravaged island simply left their puppies and kittens at their house.
The mountain exploded on June 25, 1997. Their home was in the "buffer zone", and life became unbearable in the island that, up until then, was their dream come true. The couple, along with 15 cats and five large dogs in crates sailed, albeit with reluctance, for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
loved st vincent
Did they like St. Vincent? Yes, they did. And they loved the hard-working people there. The house they rented did not have a washing machine so the laundry was done by hand. "You have never heard hand laundry being done until you have heard the 'squish-a-squish' of a West Indian washing your clothing," she writes.
They stayed in 'Vincy Land' for some 17 months and then reluctantly returned to their home in Montserrat in April 1999. But everything had changed and Montserrat was not the same. To top it all off, "the granddaddy of all the volcanic eruptions since July 1995 occurred from 12th to 13th July 2003".
Her description of that volcanic eruption is graphic and gripping.
What will they do now? What happens when Richard says to her one morning, "I am not getting any younger. I don't have the time to wait for a calm to come over this country (Montserrat)"?
Nancy Burke's book is a must-read. Her style is unique and compelling. She writes beautifully and from her heart.
