Magna: A Memoir of the Enduring Human Spirit

Through the example of his mother's life, one of St. Lucia's best storytellers and foremost public intellectuals brings us a rich and compelling memoir, suffused with the history and culture of his country, that presents invaluable lessons about dying, about how best to raise children, and how best to live a meaningful and impactful life right through old age. It is a tour de force, an unflinching interrogation of history, the society that gave rise to the author, parent-child bonding and separation, family values, intergenerational trauma, mortality, religion and spirituality, and the nature of love and sacrifice.

The story is told of Magna (1929-2020), the fourth of thirteen children of Marie and Jonah Francis, growing up under austere circumstances in rural St. Lucia in the Great Depression era. In her late teens, she forsakes the mainstream Roman Catholic Church into which she was born for the fringe Seventh-Day Adventist denomination. Her subsequent marriage to St. Brice Reynolds, a tailor by trade, takes her to the town of Vieux Fort in the late 1940s as the Americans were in the process of decommissioning their World War II Vieux Fort military base. In Vieux Fort, she and her husband wage a bread-and-butter struggle to keep their family of nine children afloat while wrestling to keep them on the straight and narrow path in a town they deemed a den of iniquity. In the late 1950s, Philomene left her children in the care of her father and younger sisters to join her husband in London and thus become part of the great post-war West Indian migration, which would go down in history as the "Windrush Generation." Philomene and her husband's stint in England lasted only a few years and was part of an effort to better provide for their children, but the separation would have dire and possible lasting consequences for the children left behind.

"The writing is exceptionally lucid and unrelenting in its candor...extravagant in detail, unbridled in its laudatory acknowledgement of the mother figure; this book is Reynolds' finest... "

-Modeste Downes, author of A Lesson on Wings

"A wonderful book... a rich reading experience... This will be an important book for many people, in how it goes deep into the workings of a family, and how it holds up for both inquiry and honoring, this quite astonishing woman; and in how it brings forward the intricate connections of the historical, cultural, emotional, economic context with the lives of individuals and families."

-Anya Achtenberg, author of Blue Earth

"A tale of the best in the human spirit..."

-Allan Weekes, author of Talk of the Devil

"A well-written, very interesting, very readable, very multi-faceted book. Narrated social history at its best."

-Dr. Jolien Harmsen, author of A History of St. Lucia

"A fantastic read for anyone who loves stories about family, culture, and the incredible strength people have in the face of hardship."

-K.C. Finn, Readers' Favorite (starred review)

"The writing flows effortlessly... a wonderful social history that chronicles the indomitability of one

woman's spirit... a wonderful story of a hard life, well lived, in a tropical paradise. I highly recommend this read."

-Grant Leishman, Readers' Favorite (starred review)

"An inspiring story... beautifully written ... a colorful tapestry ... has you hooked from the first page to the last...If you enjoy true inspirational stories, you'll love this book!"

- Pikasho Deka, Readers' Favorite (starred review)