Waiting in the Twilight by Joan Riley

by Joan Riley

This, the second novel by popular author Joan Riley, is the moving story of Adella, talented seamstress, who moves to Jamaica where life seems to promise so a respectable career and the chance at last of professional status. Adella falls in first with a policeman, then with Stanton, whom she eventually follows to England... and who then deserts her. Now a grandmother, Adella waits for her husband to return, haunted by memories and assessing what has been achieved over the years. In this poignant but above all strengthening novel, Joan Riley pulls no punches as she portrays 'the forgotten and unglamorous section of my people' living within a system which openly and systematically discriminates against them.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Joan Riley (born 26 May 1958) is a Jamaican-English author. Her 1985 novel The Unbelonging made her "the first Afro-Caribbean woman author to write about the experiences of Blacks in England".

She was born in St. Mary, Jamaica, the youngest of eight children, and received her early education on that island before emigrating to the United Kingdom in 1976. There she studied social work at the University of Sussex and the University of London. She has worked at a drugs advisory agency and wrote about the experiences of Caribbean women.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting, but not a favorite. But Riley's portrayal of the Caribbean's place in Britain is a very interesting, and often under-explored, genre.

[Angela]

Excellent story about Adella's struggle in Jamaica and arrival to England.