My Bones and My Flute
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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Edgar Mittelholzer |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Sanford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | racism, slavery, misogyny |
| Genre | Novel, ghost story, social realism |
| Set in | British Guiana, 1933 |
| Publisher | Secker & Warburg |
Publication date | 1955 |
| Media type | Print: hardback |
| Pages | 173 |
| ISBN | 978-0-582-78552-6 |
| 823.914 | |
| LC Class | PR9320.9 .M5 M9 |
| Preceded by | The Adding Machine: A Fable for Capitalists and Commercialists |
| Followed by | Of Trees and the Sea |
My Bones and My Flute: A Ghost Story in the Old-Fashioned Manner is a 1955 novel by Guyanese author Edgar Mittelholzer.
Plot
British Guiana, 1933. A jumbee (ghost) of a Dutch slaveowner, who died by suicide after his family was killed in the 1763 slave revolt, haunts whoever comes in contact with his will until his bones and flute are buried according to Christian rites. The document's owner, lumber magnate Ralph Nevinson, journeys deep into the jungles of Guiana with painter Milton Woodsley in order to find the Dutchman's bones and flute and end the curse.
Reception
In Stabroek News, Al Creighton wrote: " fictionalises both colonial New Amsterdam and the upper reaches of the Berbice River in such memorable fashion that the book stands as a record of the place. It recalls the mythical spiritual preoccupations with the Dutch, the forest and riverain environments that they haunt and the supernatural mysteries that still dwell in a society with a deep respect for obeah." It is generally his most highly-regarded work and is seen as an important piece of Caribbean literature.
A radio adaptation was produced by Radio Demerara, read by James Sydney, and was very popular in Guyana.
In 2022, My Bones and My Flute was included on the Big Jubilee Read, a list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors produced to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.
References
- ^ "SF Crossing the Gulf". Locus. 5 September 2017.
- ^ Deolall, Indranie (29 October 2020). "The dark ones". Stabroek News.
- ^ Company, Johnson Publishing (20 May 1965). "Jet". Johnson Publishing Company – via Google Books.
- ^ Creighton, Al (20 September 2020). "Indigenous heritage dramas rare but important". Stabroek News.
- ^ "My Bones and My Flute | Peepal Tree Press". www.peepaltreepress.com.
- ^ Telford, Mosa (7 October 2017). "Think on that". Stabroek News. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Norris, J. F. (19 May 2017). "Pretty Sinister Books: FFB: My Bones and My Flute - Edgar Mittelholzer".
- ^ Creighton, Al (25 November 2012). "Honouring Edgar Mittelholzer". Stabroek News.
- ^ Creighton, Al (14 December 2014). "Mittelholzer: The standard-bearer for Guyanese and West Indian literature". Stabroek News.
- ^ Creighton, Al (21 June 2015). "Guyanese literature: The push towards social realism". Stabroek News.
- ^ "The National Library Centenary, part two: 'My Bones and My Flute'". Stabroek News. 16 August 2009.
- ^ "My bones and my flute". Thoughts of a minibus traveller. 19 December 2009.
- ^ Sherwood, Harriet (18 April 2022). "The God of Small Things to Shuggie Bain: the Queen's jubilee book list". The Guardian.
- ^ "BBC Arts - BBC Arts - The Big Jubilee Read: Books from 1952 to 1961". BBC. 17 April 2022.
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