Author Margaret Newbigin Beetham
Publisher DLT £12.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780232534085
The author is the daughter of Lesslie Newbigin. She gives an account of her life growing up in England, at boarding school, while her parents were missionaries in India. The book is written in the third person. She also uses different names for family members and friends. This seems rather pointless as their real names are given in her introduction. The use of the third person makes the events described seem detached. There is some repetition about school life and other events. I felt that a lot of things mentioned lacked detail but there was too much emphasis certain things, for example the colour of the school uniform. I was left wanting to know more about why certain things happened, or their consequences. I felt frustrated by the jumping around between then and now. I was left with a lot of questions about how life really was for a ‘missionary child; and didn’t feel I gained any insight as to how it was. I do not think it will be a useful book for most Readers unless they have a specific interest.
PATRICIA WILKINSON
Leave a Reply