Guyanese born Beatrice Ann Edmondson who goes by the authors’ name B.A.Eddie is about to launch her first book called “When you see the light”.
The book, that was published in August 2015, is the first of many novels that the author has been inspired to write; but however, it is her first publication.
The novel is about domestic violence/spousal abuse and its prevalence around the world even in religious families. It focuses on stories of everyday people in villages like Mocha on the East Bank of Demerara, the capital city and travels all the way to Linden in Region 10. The book carries the message that domestic violence should not be tolerated, and they are solutions.
According to the author, the story was written as fiction and is about awful domestic violence and spousal abuse directed towards women. It speaks to women of today’s society while telling the story of many women in the past with a hint of the life of some of her family in pieces.
She said that if the names characters, places and incidents in the book resemble locales or persons living or dead; something that was entirely coincidental. Nevertheless, she added that her writings have a religious undertone but not too much to lose the storyline.
B.A. Eddie explained that she was inspired to write this book after her now-dead sister shared her experience of spousal abuse, after seeing her father abuse her mother as a child and also witnessing many of her family members being brutally and physically abused.
“I know I was very small when all these things happened but the guilt of not speaking hid the memory inside me. How else can a child process something like that? They lock it away until they are older”.
Meanwhile, she said that sometimes “in our lives we find ourselves with certain behaviours and are unable to understand why we act the way we do. Some of us may not even be conscious of our actions since it reflects something that may have occurred way back and now that we are adults we are mirroring those actions.”
Abuse has a domino effect in the sense that it not only affects the person being abused but also those around them. Quite often, the effects of domestic abuse trickle down to the children in the relationship as they witness, firsthand, the actions of the abusers. Those same children would sometimes associate the abuse with the normalcy of a relationship which means the continuation of the vicious cycle.
Therefore, she advises men and women and those in relationships to respect each other.
“Not because it is not physical it is not abuse. It can be psychological, sexual, emotional, or financial”.
She added “…. abusive behaviour involves power control and one should never believe the words ‘baby I would never do it again’. When you see the Light the escalation of the abuse can be clearly seen, the novel makes it clear abuse in any form must not be tolerated and not to save the marriage for the sake of the children”.
B.A. Eddie was born in Georgetown Guyana, South America, and now resides in Brooklyn, New York where she pursued study to become a paralegal. She obtained her elementary and secondary school education in Guyana before migrating to London, England.
She explains that she makes it her duty to reach out to families as well as individuals; to Christians and non- Christians alike, and addresses issues of everyday life. She devotes her time to reading and analyzing mystery and history books. In her opinion, these two categories are closely knitted. In some instances, she wishes the stories to end differently.
When you see the Light is expected to be officially launched with the author’s second publication in Guyana early next year.
