My Father's House - Hardcover

Carr, Matthew

3.83

18 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241137489 ISBN 13: 9780241137482

Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, 1998

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MY FATHER'S HOUSE is a beautifully written voyage of discovery which travels through the Caribbean, and in particular Guyana, to track the true essence of an absent father, whose violent episodes had forced his wife and children to abandon him thirty years earlier. Matthew Carr pieces his story together through family memories, relevant documents and many interviews at all levels of Guyanese society. Carr's father turns out to be an enigmatic political activist and drunk. He lived the high life of an ex-patriot, but consorted with radical poets and Marxist academics. To assuage contradictions in himself he adopted his own bizarre negritude.

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Synopsis:

This is the story of one man's search for his father. Bill Carr was a professor of English literature. In 1966 he moved his family to Guyana and became a public figure there: well-known not only for his teaching but for his radio and TV appearances. He was a violent alcoholic whose destructive rages could go on for hours, keeping half the neighbourhood awake: he beat up his wife and terrified his children. Nine months after his family's arrival, Bill Carr handed his wife a cheque for #100 and instructed her to take the children and leave for England immediately. He was only to see his family a couple of times again in his life. After his death, his son returns to Guyana, to piece together the early years of his life. To his astonishment, he finds his father was a revered public figure who fought against even his own whiteness. He made an extraordinary impact on Guyanese society through his academic and political activity, and through his highly theatrical and self-destructive personality.

About the Author:

Matthew Carr lives in Spain but is a frequent visitor to the U.K.

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