In Times Like These – Zee Edgell (1)

Growing in high, dusty banks on either side of the stairs were overgrown bushes of pink oleander. Pavana broke off a small cluster, shaking it vigorously to get rid of the worst of the dust clinging to the pointed leaves. Then she climbed the stairs to the first-floor veranda and entered the cool reception hall, with its ceiling to floor windows wide open to the riotous colours in the garden.

She crossed the pinewood floors to the mahogany desk, behind which a young nurse sat, studying a file from the stack on a table to her left. ‘Are you a relative?’ she asked, after Pavana had stated her name and requested permission to visit Alex. The nurse cast disapproving dark eyes on the flowers in Pavana’s hand before looking her up and down, as though the purloined blossoms provided adequate reason, if not irrefutable evidence, for suspecting that Pavana was there with the sole intent of doing Alex further bodily harm.

‘No,’ she said staring steadily back at her. The tensions of the past two days had left Pavana in a contentious mood, and several facetious remarks occurred to her, but she banished them immediately. The nurse was only doing her job, as was the policeman rustling a newspaper in the opposite corner of the room. ‘I’m not sure Mr Abrams can receive visitors.’ ‘I see,’ Pavana said, continuing to stand before the desk. Perhaps in the end the nurse was somewhat reassured by the school uniform Pavana still wore.

With the air of someone going against her better judgement, she said grudgingly, ‘But have a seat, I’ll check.’ She locked her files in a drawer of the desk and, snapping the keys on to a ring on her belt, disappeared through a door to the rear of the hall.

n timo Like These By the author of ‘Beka Lamb’ ZEE EDGELL was born in Belize City in 1940 and grew up in Belize. One of her first jobs was as a reporter on the Daily Gleaner in Kingston, Jamaica. From 1966-8 she taught at St Catherine Academy in Belize, during which period she was also editor of a small newspaper in Belize City.

After travelling widely — apart from Jamaica, she has lived in Britain, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and the USA — she returned to Belize to teach, and in 1981-2 was appointed Director of the Women’s Bureau in the government there. From 1986-7, Edgell was Director of the Department of Women’s Affairs, and she lectured at the University College of Belize from 1988-9. She now lives with her family in Belize. Beka Lamb, Edgell’s first novel, won the 1982 Fawcett Society Book Prize, and was the first novel by a Belizean to reach an international audience.

It is available in the ss pee Caribbean Writers Series. 7 et bee aS 1 alle er ; at ra bo Fig TREE i fs Bie cee liaguavesibecisies vs ZEE EDGELL IN TIMES LIKE THESE HEINEMANN Heinemann International Literature and Textbooks a division of Heinemann Educational Books Ltd Halley Court, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8EJ Heinemann Educational Books Inc 361 Hanover Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 03801, USA Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) Ltd PMB 5205, Ibadan Heinemann Kenya Ltd Kijabe Street, PO Box 45314, Nairobi Heinemann Educational Boleswa PO Box 10103, Village Post Office, Gabarone, Botswana LONDON EDINBURGH MADRID PARIS ATHENS BOLOGNA MELBOURNE SYDNEY AUCKLAND SINGAPORE TOKYO HARARE © Zee Edgell 1991 First published by Heinemann International Literature and Textbooks in the Caribbean Writers Series 1991 Series Editor: Adewale Maja-Pearce British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Edgell, Zee In times like these.—(Caribbean writers series) I.

Title II. Series 813. [F] ISBN 0-435-98927-8 The right of Zee Edgell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 94ac5a4f80181910
• File Extension: .pdf
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• Title: –
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• Pages: 325
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 606.11 minutes
• Total Words: 121,221
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