book reviews
Kay Danes
Hi,
Finally my good friend Terence Donaldson has had his book published [Maverick
House].
I was lucky enough to have had a sneek preview and it really is a terrific read.
Hell in Barbados is about Terry's struggle with drug addiction and his incredible
journey through foreign lands, where he tempted fate on so many occasions but
somehow lived to endure another day. Terry's life was obviously out of control
and totally beyond his grasp. He finally ended up in a prison in the Caribbean
'Hell in Barbados'. But this isn't another prison story or another drug mule
operation gone wrong, despite the fact that Terry spent 3 harrowing years in
Glendairy Prison, which succumbed to a full scale riot, burnt to the ground
with Terry in it and the events that followed sparked a Royal Commission which
continues today. This story shows warts and all how one person can one day have
everything to live for and then the next day have nothing at all.
Terry's journey caused him to lose everything and as I turned each page, I wondered
how on earth he ever survived. Most times it seemed as if he was completely
lost and just when you think it couldn't get any worse, it did.
Terry's personal journey is told with such brutal honesty that it can but only
open your eyes. It's not a story for the faint-hearted but it is one that needs
to be told. Terry found his way back from the brink of total self-destruction.
This to me is a strong message that ought to be shared time and time again to
remind others that even in the most seemingly hopeless situations, there can
still be hope.
Kay Danes
International Human Rights Advocate
Foreign Prisoner Support Service
www.foreignprisoners.com
Author Website: www.kaydanes.com
Latest world-wide release - 'Nightmare in Laos' - A True story of a woman imprisoned
in a communist gulag.
Coral Temple
I am not much of a book reader, so when my old mate Terry invited me to his book
launch and I pledged that I would get back to him after I'd read it, I thought
I would have a bit of a daunting task on my hands. I pride myself on staying true
to my word, so I knew I would just have to give it a go...
I was going to have to read on the hoof as Terry's communication came at a time
when my life consisted of visiting my friend and my mum in hospitals at opposite
ends of the dreaded Northern line. So, on a grey Thursday morning I wrapped up
and stuffed the copy of Hell in Barbados into my handbag along with chocolate
fancies and sandwiches for the sick. I got on the underground at Camden Town,
and by the time I'd got to Bank, I was lost. Lost in the unfettered primal scream
and sweet corruption of London in the seventies that was the playground and nursery
for so many of us. I couldn't put the damned book down. Terry's narrative just
got you straight there, without effort or pretension. I was starting to get a
bit worried, because the "darker side" was beginning to lap at me ever
so slightly with a sort of Pavlov's dog puppy suck. Hmmm... I had planned on giving
a copy of "Hell in Barbados" to my now hospitalised, headonistic boyfriend,
thinking that this supposed story of addiction and recovery would inspire him
to clean up his act. I took a deep breath and carried on reading. However, I did
decide to finish the book before giving him his copy, just in case I was going
to kill rather than cure him! By Friday lunchtime, passing through Stockwell and
Clapham South I was furiously cured of any unsavoury seduction into oblivion and
adventure.
The remarkable thing about this book is that it speaks without judgement, It simply
speaks from pure unadulterated experience. As you enter into Terry's universe,
you feel the agony and the ecstasy. You feel the people around him in the same
way, without judgement, but with an acute awareness of the prodigeny of human
suffering the unexamined life can create.
As I continued to read this descent into hell, I was becoming increasingly aware
of my own personal gratitude for my own life. What luxury to be able to close
the book at midnight and make myself a cup of tea and stroke the cat. It took
me under a week of train journeys and late night snatches to finish the book.
I thought that was pretty good going for me, the non-book reader. But apparently
not! Eventually my friend got discharged from hospital and I gave him his copy
of the book. He sat down on the armchair, didn't go to bed and didn't get up 'till
he'd finished it the next morning. Truth is, I keep telling my friends to read
the book, but I don't want to lend them my copy. Who would I recommend it to?
Obviously anyone with addictive tendencies, but also anyone feeling depressed
or sorry for themselves. Anyone unhappy in love or with bailiffs threatening and
definately anyone travelling the Northern line to visit their loved ones in care.
Michelle
Hi Terry
I had to drop you an email to first of all thank you for inviting me to the book
launch. It was lovely to see you again, looking well and doing such an amazing
thing. Secondly to congratulate you on the book. I finished it earlier this week
and Terry let me tell you, I thought it was fucking brilliant. I honestly couldn’t
put it down that’s how gripping it was. My partners now reading it and he
too can’t put it down either!
I’m being honest and straight up and I wanted to say thank you for providing
me with such an amazing insight not just into your life but how addiction can
affect people in this all consuming way. BUT also that it’s possible to
turn your life around. Hopefully many others would not have to experience the
horrors you did, but that if people want to change, they can.
There were moments in the book that the scenario was so crazy, chaotic that I
had to laugh at with black humour. I know it wasn’t funny but I can imagine
you sitting back sometimes just shaking your head at all the shit that must of
gone down when you were in the thick of the drug life, you in the middle of it
but not even comprehending the risks/dangers.
The part when you were in Barbados was chilling and at times I felt your fear,
the book was really able to convey so much emotion, when the riot broke, I felt
like I was jostling through the crowd with you trying to get out, or baking in
the hot sun while you waited to be moved, or wrapping your self up in a plastic
sheet to keep warm.
I’m disgusted that this is the way people are being treated in Barbados
but not at all surprised. Adlai (boyfriend) tells me that its much the same in
the Bahamas and my uncle is completing a year sentence in Jamaica for....yes you
guessed it, trying to smuggle cocaine back to England. I must catch up with him
and find out if he's ok. It turns my stomach to know that this happens to people
and that they mix petty criminals with major criminals but maybe they take the
lead from America who does that too. Except the conditions are not as dreadful
as what they are in the Caribbean.
Once again what an amazing triumph. I’m so very proud of you and grateful
that you were able to share this story in a touching, humane dignified way