Revelations

Revelations is a collection of human experiences that take us along with the protagonist at varying stages of emotional development in the struggle of comprehending the difficulties of human relationships whether it be with our parents, our chosen life partners, our employer or God .Whatever the situation whatever the cultural context the protagonist has to make a choice without in some cases knowing where the decision to make the choice comes from whether it be a message from the universe, the example of a mentor or a sheer dogged determination to be true to oneself. Jean Small who has travelled and worked in different countries and cultures shares her personal knowledge and experiences of human contact and language registers to craft these stories that dip us into the complications of inter-cultural marriage, blinding innocence,religious mysticism but most of all self-definition of her characters in far-flung places from Guyana in South America, to Jamaica in the Caribbean to London in England and Ijebu Ode in Nigeria confronting self as we see in the case of Abimola (Shifting Sands) She felt rather frustrated that he could not share his thoughts with her. That was when the feeling of needing more than the physical presence of a man rose inside of her.. She needed some intellectual stimulation. Delving into the cases of human trafficking became more and more a dull chore. She felt she was only half alive. She wanted a whole life. Sex, love, her profession and intellectual stimulation. As an academic and legal practitioner she needed to have that other side of life. Just having a male companion was not enough. What was happening to her? That same restlessness that she felt first in London when she boarded the plane to Nigeria and again when she moved to Jamaica was upon her again. She stormed into the bedroom, dashed the novels and short story collections all over the room and in an angry passion tore down the beautiful carving that represented who he was to her, broke it up into several pieces and dropped them on the floor. From his workshop Ian could hear the loud crashing sound of the broken wall plaque “Abi! Abi!. Wha ‘appenin in deh?” he shouted. She did not answer. All she knew was that she had to make another move which she could easily do because she had her career. ………………………………or as in the case of Chuck ((UP Against the Odds) ‘So you think you are a big man now making decisions about your future. Why do you think your father has spent all that money to get you into that school? You are going to end your schooling now?” his mother asked angrily. “ Look son,” his father said, ‘These days in school are the best days of your life. Your education is of vital importance for your future success. It would be a big mistake not stay on and then move on to higher studies to prepare you for a profession.” ‘I think there must be other ways of being a man and having a satisfying job than doing exactly what you did.’