In Times Like These

by Zee Edgell

Book Overview

Pavana Leslie returns with her children to her homeland of Belize after many years abroad, and must fight to come to terms with the ghosts of her past. A novel by the recipient of the 1982 Fawcett Society Book Prize for her earlier work, Beka Lamb.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0435989278
• ISBN13: 9780435989279
• Release Date: October 1991
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Not up to Edgell's first effort.

Edgell can write beautifully and this is a good book in many ways, very interesting in the way it describes the transition of a small country from colonialism to independence. However, I didn't really like the actual plot. Pavana Leslie's problems didn't grip me -- I felt as if she needed more common sense in her personal life and by the time I got to the melodramatic ending (involving a couple of shootings and the kidnapping of her children) I was bored. Edgell's BEKA LAMB is a true masterpiece, in my opinion, one of the best books of the twentieth century, worthy of being placed along with the writings of Derek Walcott and V. S. Naipaul (both Nobel prize winners). I gave IN TIMES LIKE THESE four stars, because Edgell cannot write badly -- the descriptions in this book are wonderful and the political points that are brought up are tellingly made and would apply to a lot of 'developing' nations, but if a plot that grips you is really important to you as a reader, this probably would not be your favorite book.