“In the light of day, locked behind a toilet door, the enormous throbbing sore had produced a hat of pus. I felt it pop like a grape in my pants as I sat down to another meal of potato and sausage. It was ringed with a blue line clear as if drawn with a pencil.Continue reading “RKS Literature: A Venereal Gift From Calcutta (Andrea Levy)”
Tag Archives: RKS literature
RKS Literature: Syphilis WWII Style?
“The medical officer, on the boat when we first came out east, had warned us RAF recruits. Ulcers, inflammations, colourful discharge, swellings. All the result of sexual relations with the wrong type. He’d given us lectures. Colourful pictures were passed around. Lurid photographs. Quite shocking. Parts of the body unrecognizable as human. Turned some ofContinue reading “RKS Literature: Syphilis WWII Style?”
RKS Literature: Loving the Helpless Younger Brother (James Baldwin)
“I think it may be easier to love the really helpless younger brother because he cannot enter into competition with one’s own ground, or on any ground at all, and can never question one’s role, or jeopardize one’s authority. In my own case, certainly, it did not occur to me until much later-to compete withContinue reading “RKS Literature: Loving the Helpless Younger Brother (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: England Needed to Keep the Rioting Muslims and Hindus Under Control! (Andrea Levy)
“Thousands were killed in Calcutta. Men, women, children, even suckling babies. They called it a riot. Those of us who’d been in the thick of things with these bloodthirsty little men knew it was more than that. Muslims butchering Hindus. Hindus butchering Muslims. And who knows whose side the Sikhs were on? Rumour said theContinue reading “RKS Literature: England Needed to Keep the Rioting Muslims and Hindus Under Control! (Andrea Levy)”
RKS Literature: Sex and a Gas Mask (Andrea Levy)
“All that lily-of-the-valley scent. Hours spent waving my hair and powdering my face to porcelain perfection. Silk stockings, red lips and hands as soft as lah-di-lah. And I was married to a man who wouldn’t have noticed if I’d come to bed in my gas mask. If I could have asked Aunt Dorothy, “Is thatContinue reading “RKS Literature: Sex and a Gas Mask (Andrea Levy)”
RKS Literature: Frightened to Get in the Family Way! (Andrea Levy)
“All those warnings of things that could leave me in the family way. I’d been scared simple from the time my breasts first poked up in my jumper. Kissing at the garden gate, canoodling at the pictures. If he stuck his tongue in your mouth that was definitely a baby. If he touched your breast,Continue reading “RKS Literature: Frightened to Get in the Family Way! (Andrea Levy)”
RKS Literature: World War II Luck in England (Andrea Levy)
“Luck is a funny thing. To some only a large win of money at the pools is luck. Or finding a valuable jewel at your feet on a London street. That surely is luck. But during the war luck take another turn. The bomb that just miss you is luck. Only your leg blown offContinue reading “RKS Literature: World War II Luck in England (Andrea Levy)”
RKS Literature: Lynching Welcoming Party for Jamaican Soldiers in Virginian U.S. Army Base: A Warm American Welcome
“I soon realized we were lucky the American authorities did not let us off the camp in Virginia. We West Indians, thinking ourselves as good as any man, would have wandered unaware, greeting white people who would have swung us from the nearest tree for merely passing the time of day with them. And myContinue reading “RKS Literature: Lynching Welcoming Party for Jamaican Soldiers in Virginian U.S. Army Base: A Warm American Welcome”
RKS Literature: A Jamaican Contemplates Fighting a White Man’s War (Andrea Levy)
“Perhaps my cousin Elwood was right, ‘Man this is a white man’s war. Why you wanna lose your life for a white man? For Jamaica, yes. To have your own country, yes. That is worth a fight. To see black skin in the governor’s house doing more than just serving at the table and sweepingContinue reading “RKS Literature: A Jamaican Contemplates Fighting a White Man’s War (Andrea Levy)”
RKS Literature: A Jamaican Soldier Reflects on Food and Women (Andrea Levy)
“My mirror spoke to me. It said: ‘Man, women gonna fall at your feet’. In my uniform of blue-from the left, from the right, from behind-I looked like a god. And this uniform did not even fit me so well. But what is a little bagging on the waist and tightness under the arm whenContinue reading “RKS Literature: A Jamaican Soldier Reflects on Food and Women (Andrea Levy)”
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 