By Eusi Kwayana
Beryl Adams Haynes (ed. Laurence Clarke) Plaisance from Emancipation to Independence and Beyond (Beryl Adams Haynes : [Guyana], 20210. – ISBN 978-976-8204-48-6)
The most recent addition to the history of the villages of Guyana comes from Plaisance, on the East Coast of Demerara. Its author is Beryl ‘Bobby’ Adams Haynes, a daughter of that village, and her work is the best-researched and best presented to date, of the village histories. The covers of Plaisance from Emancipation to Independence and Beyond are rich in colour contrasts and images, and between them are 144 pages relating to the community’s rich and episodic history and growth, and the achievements of its daughters and sons. Among others, the author expresses her appreciation to numerous villagers most of who have passed on into history. She is especially grateful to Dr Laurence Clarke, one of the very eminent Plaisance natives serving the world community.
It is perhaps, subject to correction, the first village history to be written by a woman. This is a happy feature, since women have played such a vital role in village development from the very first, with so little noted and so few of their names recorded.
There are nine chapters beginning with the early history of the village, and continuing on to matters of administration, religion, culture and social life, and economy, etc. The nine chapters fall into three sections, each with a theme and each brightened with photographs fitting the theme. The book ends with
