Sally and Sheila, your posts are appreciated, thank you both.
I had been thinking about an answer for Sally and was warming my cold hands on a cup of tea, there was Sheila's message.
Sheila, you said it beautifully : "The characters in LB were part of reality. We are each part of the reality of this world."
Exactly.
Sally, Not every book we read will please or appeal to everyone - or displease, for that matter. We've different tastes, temperaments and viewpoints (although all of us surely prefer good news to bad any day). All I can say is "to each his own", or "suum cuique", as the Romans said.
Good and evil coexist in the world, and though we avoid evil in all its manifestations, we are powerless to escape the reality of it. As far back as we go in history, there have been wars, for women (Helen of Troy), for land, for power and money, and in this century for oil.
Yes, LB is only a story, the characters and their actions invented by the author (narrative license), but the story is based on undeniable facts, on truth. The innocent rarely have recourse. But in the eyes of the British LB had entered the country without papers, she was an illegal. So, legally, they had every right to deport her to her certain doom.
Sheila, LB didn't need a passport - she had a personal escort who delivered her into the Nigerian authorities. Her fate was sealed. Still as long as we hear voices of conscience like Cleave's, there's reason for hope and optimism. Thank you for your kind words. Thank you for the pleasure of your company all this month. Thanks again, Andy.
With sincere gratitude,
T
P.S. Sheila we came in the summer of 1954.
