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The Manley Memoirs | 
| Author: Beverley Manley
Publisher: Ian Randle Publishers, Jamaica
Category: Book
Buy New: $18.95
New (1) Used (1) from $18.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 159488
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 9766373132
EAN: 9789766373139
ASIN: 9766373132
Publication Date: May 26, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
From stationmaster s daughter to wife of one of Jamaica s most charismatic prime ministers Beverley Manley s life has been an odyssey. As a young girl, starved of her mother s love because she was darker than her siblings, and forced to do housework while her sisters relaxed, Beverley was a modern-day Cinderella. Told incessantly that she was good for nothing, she defied her mother s prophecy, and triumphed over her ordinary beginnings first as a model in London and later becoming a household name in local radio, television and on stage. It was her path at the then Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) that would lead her directly to Michael Manley and to Jamaica House. Marriage to Michael also lead to her political awakening; not content with being the docile wife, Beverly assumed an activist role in the governing People s National Party (PNP), becoming embroiled in the ideological politics of the 1970s that would eventually lead to her estrangement from Michael, the destruction of their marriage, her flight into the arms of a rival lover and finally to a self-imposed exile in the US, where she took refuge from the ire of the Jamaican elite for daring to walk out on one of their own. But Beverly was to redeem herself and earn new respect as a broadcaster, commentator and incisive interviewer on the immensely popular and innovative Breakfast Club radio show. Now older and much wiser, Beverly tells it like it is in this intriguing and revealing memoir. It is a rags to riches story almost; a story of triumph and loss; of rising again and finally one of redemption.
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| Customer Reviews:
 lacking substance September 28, 2008
Having lived in Jamaica during the turbulant 80s, I find many of her recollections lacking in truth. She came from a class of people who've recklessly presided over the most massive destruction of the Jamaican wealth and families. I am still appalled that no one has offered a word of apology..not one. We were real people living in constant fear...felt real pain and lost so much.Micheal Manley represented the greatest deception and tragedy in our nation's history.
 Amazing Revelations - on Michael and Beverly Manley July 3, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
(Comments contributed by Joshua Spencer on 01 July, 2008 07:15:54 )
I have purchased and read a copy of the "Manley Memoirs". It is an excellently written piece that has brought a lot to the fore in terms of not merely the psychological mindset of Michael and Beverly Manley but it has "watered down" the original adoration that many might have had as young men and women for the publicly, charismatic Michael Manley, even as it widens one's grasp as to the private and personal struggles, public representatives endure during the loss of political power and perceived status.
The fact that Michael Manley got married at age 22 to a woman who was already mothering two children, and being in her mid-30s, while Michael Manley, himself, still being an undergraduate student at the London School of Economics, with no means to support a family and studies, did jump out at me somewhat, as revealed in "The Manley Memoirs". I think this revelation will have some negative impact on the otherwise well admired Michael Manley and reduces the former leader in the eyes of his former admirants, in terms of his true leadership capabilities and his intellectual prowess in making excellent decisions, politically or in general. Michael's honesty to his colleagues might have also been put in question as it pertains to secret arrangements that might have been made with the IMF as you will discover in reading the book. His jealousy and propensity to make the same mistakes over and over in relationship after relationship, his almost close-to-long distance, hands-off/businesslike approach to the relationship with his children from each marriage (Michael had at least one child in each of his marriages) are also not at the upper end of my adoration for the man I have grown to adore over the years. His apparent insecurity as a human being with respect to his wife, Beverly Anderson Manley, and the uncomfortable feeling within his own skin colour as portrayed in the book, are some important weaknesses that easily flush to the surface re this perceived and acknowledged stalwart politician of Jamaica as regarded by the masses for years!
Beverly Anderson-Manley, herself, sums up her penchant and proclivity for lighter skin men (white men) toward the end of the work which is one of my observations from the reading of the early pages of the book. She describes it as being psychological, emanating out of the racism and feeling of "no-good" that was delved her by her mother as a child. Her excuses for having an affair with her husband is understandable, though could raise some questions as to the ethical and moral standard of this great lady who had achieved so much over time, despite her humble beginnings.
In general, an excellent book that fills the political and personal chasm that the Jamaican public might have been deeply denied of the PNP in the '70s and mid '80s, and of the well-revered and charismatic politician, Michael Manley, in particular. At times during the reading, one is tempted to question if the author speaks of the same tough, lion-like leader, trade unionist and confident-appearing politician that so many Jamaicans of all walks of life had come to love and respect over the years. And even as the author talks sparsely of the occasional verbal abuse, she has left no doubt in the reader's mind that Michael Manley might have never been physically abusive even with his fit for screaming. She argues outrightly that never had he been physically abusive. If there is one thing to be admired in Michael Manley in this memoir, was his tendency to exhibit forgiveness and his capacity to restrain himself from being physically abusive even as he struggled with his tendency to be verbally boisterous.
The book also shows politics and politicians for what they are, politicians. A need to appease the masses and woo the votes, even as they struggle with their own, personal challenges which must be kept from the public at all cost. Mrs. Anderson-Manley has opened the gates to such private persona in this wonderfully written book!
Nothwithstanding the above points, Mrs. Beverly Anderson-Manley has done a great job in this book. She has compiled a volume of work that will serve as a guide and as a stimulus to young, poor women and to direct the solid and correct point that the sky is the only limit for anyone including those women and men from the girth and scrub of the working class. Hard work and determination, and being at the right place at the right time are also helpful facilitators, accompanied with brain and commonsense, to great accomplishments.
Read the book. It is an investment that worths your while. It is truly a book based on, and from the perspective of, a former First Lady, whose story would probably not have been as straightforward and outright had she left it to be told by a male compatriot! Congratulations, Mrs. Manley on a work well done! You have made all of us, women and men of the working class backdrop proud, but more importantly, you have not been intimidated, fearful or left any room for your history and accomplishments (even that of Michael Manley) to be twisted and stretched to fit the lens of our male authors' ego. Great work. This book MUST be read by every Jamaican and all those who are interested to learn from the past as we all MUST, to chart the correct future path!
Joshua Spencer, educator, author and poet, Toronto, Canada. Joshua Spencer's books can also be purchased on the Amazon website. (Joshua Spencer was born and grown in Jamaica)
Below are some excellent books by Jamaicans; "Fluctuating Life" and "Contemporary, Issues, Science, Africa and More" by Joshua Spencer. "Quest for a Dream - A Life Committed to Progress by Joyce Buchanan".
Fluctuating Life
Contemporary Issues, Science, Africa and More
Quest for a Dream: A Life Committed to Progress
Comments contributed by Joshua Spencer, educator, author and poet, Toronto Canada. (NB: Joshua Spencer was born and grown in Jamaica)
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