EBOOK
About
Nevaeh Francis (later Barron) is a Jamaican woman living in Canada. She falls into the nearby river, and the prologue ends.
The novel opens while Nevaeh is a schoolgirl. At school, Nevaeh is not achieving at the level that she should. She is constantly bullied by her English Literature teacher, Miss Shalk. They have a confrontation where she speaks up for herself but is beaten across the face by her teacher. Later, the teacher tells her she is only fit to be a janitor. She is afraid to go to her parents so she decides to visit an Obeahman, an occult practitioner, with her friends in a rainstorm. He has her dress in a white gown and gives her an herbal bath, speaking Biblical psalms over her. The next time she goes to school she hears that Miss Shalk is dead. She blames herself and is horrified, but gradually her schoolwork improves.
She goes to the Blue Mountain Peak with her friends on Robin's seventeenth birthday. They hike to the summit and have a picnic, but on the way down it gets dark and Robin goes missing and is never found. Again Nevaeh blames herself. She drifts away from her friends. Her grandmother dies.
Nevaeh goes to teacher training college in Kingston. She learns from her father after her first week there that her mother has died. She returns to Balcarres for the funeral, and the Obeahman gives her a chrysanthemum plant to put in her garden as a remembrance for her mother, which she does. She then returns to college and a few years later graduates. She returns to Balcarres to teach and meets Rayva, who wants to buy her chrysanthemums. He buys her expensive gifts, sweeps her off her feet, and marries her in a lavish ceremony.
Present day: Nevaeh awakes in a hospital ICU in New York City. She doesn't know who she is or where she is from. Nurse Robin and therapist Imka become her friends. She discovers that she is Jamaican and loves watermelon. She is given some by Sandy, a Jamaican nurse. Imka tells her she had gasoline in her bloodstream when she was found.
Nevaeh meets Detective Dennis, the sergeant assigned to her case. He sends out her picture to law enforcement, leading to Rayva finding her again. Dennis tells her privately that Rayva and his father, Rain Barron, are involved in shady dealings. He offers her protection and citizenship if she will agree to spy on her husband and his family. She accepts.
Rain flies in to New York to meet his son and Nevaeh. He demands her diary and pulls a gun on both Nevaeh and Rayva, who pushes Nevaeh to the ground. Rain shoots Rayva, and is arrested. Nevaeh has another breakdown and is sedated a second time.
Nevaeh wakes up two days later in South Africa with Imka, sent there by the FBI to protect her from Rain's associates. They book into a hotel and go for nature walks. Then they fly to Johannesburg to meet Imka's adopted sister, Shale. In the taxi Nevaeh bumps her head and regains her memory. They visit the Apartheid Museum where Shale works.
Back in Cape Town, they hike up Table Mountain. Nevaeh has a flashback and remembers fighting with Robin on the side of the Blue Mountain, and seeing Robin fall off a precipice. She is traumatised. She phones Clare and Bridget and tells them what happened. They tell her they witnessed the altercation and that Robin's fall was an accident. Nevaeh then phones her father, who tells her the Obeahman is just an herbalist and is in fact her uncle. She realises she had nothing to do with Miss Shalk's death.
The final scene shows Nevaeh swimming in a river, and she realises she will always choose the river, which symbolises her self-growth journey.
The novel opens while Nevaeh is a schoolgirl. At school, Nevaeh is not achieving at the level that she should. She is constantly bullied by her English Literature teacher, Miss Shalk. They have a confrontation where she speaks up for herself but is beaten across the face by her teacher. Later, the teacher tells her she is only fit to be a janitor. She is afraid to go to her parents so she decides to visit an Obeahman, an occult practitioner, with her friends in a rainstorm. He has her dress in a white gown and gives her an herbal bath, speaking Biblical psalms over her. The next time she goes to school she hears that Miss Shalk is dead. She blames herself and is horrified, but gradually her schoolwork improves.
She goes to the Blue Mountain Peak with her friends on Robin's seventeenth birthday. They hike to the summit and have a picnic, but on the way down it gets dark and Robin goes missing and is never found. Again Nevaeh blames herself. She drifts away from her friends. Her grandmother dies.
Nevaeh goes to teacher training college in Kingston. She learns from her father after her first week there that her mother has died. She returns to Balcarres for the funeral, and the Obeahman gives her a chrysanthemum plant to put in her garden as a remembrance for her mother, which she does. She then returns to college and a few years later graduates. She returns to Balcarres to teach and meets Rayva, who wants to buy her chrysanthemums. He buys her expensive gifts, sweeps her off her feet, and marries her in a lavish ceremony.
Present day: Nevaeh awakes in a hospital ICU in New York City. She doesn't know who she is or where she is from. Nurse Robin and therapist Imka become her friends. She discovers that she is Jamaican and loves watermelon. She is given some by Sandy, a Jamaican nurse. Imka tells her she had gasoline in her bloodstream when she was found.
Nevaeh meets Detective Dennis, the sergeant assigned to her case. He sends out her picture to law enforcement, leading to Rayva finding her again. Dennis tells her privately that Rayva and his father, Rain Barron, are involved in shady dealings. He offers her protection and citizenship if she will agree to spy on her husband and his family. She accepts.
Rain flies in to New York to meet his son and Nevaeh. He demands her diary and pulls a gun on both Nevaeh and Rayva, who pushes Nevaeh to the ground. Rain shoots Rayva, and is arrested. Nevaeh has another breakdown and is sedated a second time.
Nevaeh wakes up two days later in South Africa with Imka, sent there by the FBI to protect her from Rain's associates. They book into a hotel and go for nature walks. Then they fly to Johannesburg to meet Imka's adopted sister, Shale. In the taxi Nevaeh bumps her head and regains her memory. They visit the Apartheid Museum where Shale works.
Back in Cape Town, they hike up Table Mountain. Nevaeh has a flashback and remembers fighting with Robin on the side of the Blue Mountain, and seeing Robin fall off a precipice. She is traumatised. She phones Clare and Bridget and tells them what happened. They tell her they witnessed the altercation and that Robin's fall was an accident. Nevaeh then phones her father, who tells her the Obeahman is just an herbalist and is in fact her uncle. She realises she had nothing to do with Miss Shalk's death.
The final scene shows Nevaeh swimming in a river, and she realises she will always choose the river, which symbolises her self-growth journey.