The Rainmaker's Mistake by Erna Brodber

The Rainmaker's Mistake

Erna Brodber

This is an interesting story about how former slaves coped with freedom. It does take some time to get into - so be prepared to be patient - partly because the dialogue is in a dialect/patois which may be unfamiliar and also because there are changes in time and place which are not always easy to follow. However, bear with it, because you really will become involved in the rehabilitation struggles of these characters.

Extract
'To the yamfield', somebody gave word to our intention. We were making for the direction from which we were accustomed to seeing the new babies being taken on founder's day, but we found no yamfield, no nursery, no nothing. Mr Charlie had indeed made the last of us. What was happening here, please God? Did this have something to do with the 'free'?

We retraced our steps to find that two people had not moved, had not been with us to look. We looked as one at I-Sis standing where we had stood with Sallywater in her arms. She knew our stare required an answer: - I don't know about myself and I don't know about you but I know that Sallywater was never a yam.-
Parallels
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison
  • Now is the Time to Open your Heart by Alice Walker