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Shadows Move Among Them
Portraying the dark, authoritarian side of the utopian dream, this classic novel tells the story of the Reverend Harmston, a man devoted to building a microsociety in which there is a balance between the order that is necessary to produce livelihood and the freedom to fully explore sexuality. Setting up a commune in the remote Guyanese forest with the creed, “Hard work, frank love, and wholesome play,” the reverend attempts to construct an ideal society that opens up cross-cultural dialogue between the spirit of European enlightenment and the culture of the native Amerindians. Underneath its generally comic tone, however, there are notes of a darker spirit at play—such as Harmston's unquestioned authority and the brutal punishments he hands out—that eerily foreshadow the actual 1978 Jonestown Massacre, a violent event that occurred 27 years after the novel's initial publication.
- GenresNovels
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
1 person is currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Mittelholzer
37 books41 followersEdgar Mittelholzer is considered the first West Indian novelist, i.e. even though there were writers who wrote about Caribbean themes before him, he was the first to make a successful professional life out of it. Born in Guyana (then British Guiana) of Afro-European heritage, he began writing in 1929 and self-published his first book, Creole Chips, in 1937.
Mittelholzer left Guyana for Trinidad in 1941, eventually migrating to England in 1948, living the rest of his life there except for three years in Barbados, and a shorter period in Canada. Between 1951 and 1965, he published twenty-one novels, and two works of non-fiction, including his autobiographical, A Swarthy Boy.
"Mittelholzer's novels include characters and situations from a variety of places within the Caribbean. They range in time from the earliest period of European settlement to the present day and deal with a cross section of ethnic groups and social classes, not to mention subjects of historical, political, psychological, and moral interest. In addition, eight of Mittelholzer's novels are non-Caribbean in subject and setting. For all these reasons he deserves the title of "father" of the novel in the English-speaking Caribbean" - Encyclopedia of World Biography.
Among Edgar Mittelholzer's many honours was to have been the first West Indian to be awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Writing (1952). He died by his own hand in 1965, a suicide by fire predicted in several of his novels.
He published The Mad MacMullochs, written in 1953 and first published in 1959, under the pseudonym H. Austin Woodsley.
Excerpts from:
Peepal Tree Press
http://www.peepaltreepress.com/
Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook by Daryl Cumber Dance.
Mittelholzer left Guyana for Trinidad in 1941, eventually migrating to England in 1948, living the rest of his life there except for three years in Barbados, and a shorter period in Canada. Between 1951 and 1965, he published twenty-one novels, and two works of non-fiction, including his autobiographical, A Swarthy Boy.
"Mittelholzer's novels include characters and situations from a variety of places within the Caribbean. They range in time from the earliest period of European settlement to the present day and deal with a cross section of ethnic groups and social classes, not to mention subjects of historical, political, psychological, and moral interest. In addition, eight of Mittelholzer's novels are non-Caribbean in subject and setting. For all these reasons he deserves the title of "father" of the novel in the English-speaking Caribbean" - Encyclopedia of World Biography.
Among Edgar Mittelholzer's many honours was to have been the first West Indian to be awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Writing (1952). He died by his own hand in 1965, a suicide by fire predicted in several of his novels.
He published The Mad MacMullochs, written in 1953 and first published in 1959, under the pseudonym H. Austin Woodsley.
Excerpts from:
Peepal Tree Press
http://www.peepaltreepress.com/
Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook by Daryl Cumber Dance.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 23, 2016
Having recently discovered Mittelholzer's work (in My Bones and My Flute: A Ghost Story in the Old-Fashioned Manner), I couldn't wait to revisit him again. Luckily, Peepal Tree Press has published a few of his books, including this one. The blurb for Shadows Move Among Them says that while reading this book it is "impossible" not to make comparisons to "the fate of the People's Temple commune at Jonestown in Guyana in 1978." I can sort of see it -- you have in this novel the establishment of a "utopian" community of Berkelhoost where people are free to express themselves in many different ways, but it's a place where the emphasis on "discipline" comes before everything else. It's a good book with a story that takes time to develop but once you're in, you're hooked.
Set on the banks of the Berbice River back when this country was still known as British Guiana, the leader of this community, Reverend Harmston, has developed a philosophy centering on taking life with "a pinch of salt," without having to "nail ourselves down to any set philosophy or flat conventions." Newcomer Gregory Hawke, the nephew of Mrs. Harmston, has come to Berkelhoost seeking a rest -- he's burned out by the war, he may or may not have killed his wife, and he's looking to heal his nerves and seek peace in nature. When he gets there, Harmston's precocious daughter Olivia realizes that the real Gregory hasn't yet appeared, that it's "only his shadow" that is with them. As Gregory becomes more familiar with the family and the way of life at Berkelhoost, he finds himself having to take stock of the meaning of "civilization" (the world he's just left) and "barbarism" as he's confronted with an entirely new set of values here, constructed in such a way as to be a sort of antidote to the problems of the outside world. There's much more of course -- sex, nature, religion, and of course, Guyanese history all have major roles in this novel.
There's a lot of subtle humor in this novel, as well as a growing awareness that even in this utopian oasis, all may not as bright as it seems. Berkelhoost is a not only a place of phantoms and shadows, but it is also a place where contradictions abound. I found it to be an incredibly thought-provoking novel once I started noticing said contradictions and to me this was the big payoff here.
Shadows Move Among Them may not be everyone's cup of tea, but so far, I haven't been disappointed with either of the Mittelholzer novels I've read and there are more winging their way to my house as we speak. I appreciate Peepal Tree Press taking the time to publish his work; there are still some books that haven't yet been brought back into print, but I'm hoping the Peepal folks will consider doing so. His books take time, but are most definitely worth reading.
Set on the banks of the Berbice River back when this country was still known as British Guiana, the leader of this community, Reverend Harmston, has developed a philosophy centering on taking life with "a pinch of salt," without having to "nail ourselves down to any set philosophy or flat conventions." Newcomer Gregory Hawke, the nephew of Mrs. Harmston, has come to Berkelhoost seeking a rest -- he's burned out by the war, he may or may not have killed his wife, and he's looking to heal his nerves and seek peace in nature. When he gets there, Harmston's precocious daughter Olivia realizes that the real Gregory hasn't yet appeared, that it's "only his shadow" that is with them. As Gregory becomes more familiar with the family and the way of life at Berkelhoost, he finds himself having to take stock of the meaning of "civilization" (the world he's just left) and "barbarism" as he's confronted with an entirely new set of values here, constructed in such a way as to be a sort of antidote to the problems of the outside world. There's much more of course -- sex, nature, religion, and of course, Guyanese history all have major roles in this novel.
There's a lot of subtle humor in this novel, as well as a growing awareness that even in this utopian oasis, all may not as bright as it seems. Berkelhoost is a not only a place of phantoms and shadows, but it is also a place where contradictions abound. I found it to be an incredibly thought-provoking novel once I started noticing said contradictions and to me this was the big payoff here.
Shadows Move Among Them may not be everyone's cup of tea, but so far, I haven't been disappointed with either of the Mittelholzer novels I've read and there are more winging their way to my house as we speak. I appreciate Peepal Tree Press taking the time to publish his work; there are still some books that haven't yet been brought back into print, but I'm hoping the Peepal folks will consider doing so. His books take time, but are most definitely worth reading.
May 21, 2010
I am very rapidly becoming a Mittelholzer fan. Having read “A Morning at the Office” and now “The Shadows Move Among Them” in quick succession, I definitely want to read more. The man is overtly literary and erudite, but he is a gifted writer with much wit and intelligence, and he has great imagination.
I particularly enjoyed the elements of myth and belief systems that Mittelholzer espouses in this novel. I had a Eureka moment while reading this book – some of my favorite novels deal with mythologies and belief systems including: Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle”, and Barth’s “End of the Road”. And like those books, TSMAT is thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining, but I give Mittleholzer kudos because his book preceded the others.
Another element I really liked in TSMAT was to treatment of Olivia, I couldn’t help but think about Emily in “A High Wind in Jamaica” while reading this book. Like Emily, Olivia is an example of a child-woman in an exotic Caribbean setting. Olivia is educated and intuitive, and she lives in that realm between fantasy and reality, all-in-all it’s a dangerous combination. Olivia is one of those children I might consider too smart for her own good, but she is makes for good reading.
I particularly enjoyed the elements of myth and belief systems that Mittelholzer espouses in this novel. I had a Eureka moment while reading this book – some of my favorite novels deal with mythologies and belief systems including: Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle”, and Barth’s “End of the Road”. And like those books, TSMAT is thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining, but I give Mittleholzer kudos because his book preceded the others.
Another element I really liked in TSMAT was to treatment of Olivia, I couldn’t help but think about Emily in “A High Wind in Jamaica” while reading this book. Like Emily, Olivia is an example of a child-woman in an exotic Caribbean setting. Olivia is educated and intuitive, and she lives in that realm between fantasy and reality, all-in-all it’s a dangerous combination. Olivia is one of those children I might consider too smart for her own good, but she is makes for good reading.
March 10, 2025
Really a very curious read. I was taken away by the voice of this writer that left me feeling mystified and morbid.
May 17, 2022
I hadn’t heard of Mittelholzer until Adam Curtis’ most recent TV series focused on him, contrasting some of the fictional scenarios in his books with the eventual fate of his countryman Michael De Freitas (aka Michael X), and covering his suicide by self-immolation, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this. First of all, though, despite Mittelholzer apparently being the first Caribbean author to make a living as a novelist, this book is quite European in outlook and style. Perhaps I naively expected it to be significantly different due to his background, but this feels like it was quite heavily influenced by Joseph Conrad, as its main theme is someone travelling into the jungle to visit a community that has rejected the so-called ‘civilised’ world and does things how it wants to.
It’s about a man who visits his uncle and aunt and their family in the jungle of what was then British Guyana, as he’s looking for a change of scenario after having been in the Spanish Civil War and is apparently suffering from what was then called ‘shell-shock’, though it’s later revealed this is just the excuse he gives and he actually has other problems. But the idyllic exterior of the community he finds soon disappears when it’s discovered that his uncle runs the settlement as an autocrat, and whilst he gives the impression it’s democratic, people basically have to follow his rules to the letter, which include him deciding which couples can have children, essentially keeping a man as a slave, and carrying out the death penalty on people who’ve committed quite minor crimes in order to supposedly maintain the integrity of the community. So whilst ostensibly rejecting Western civilization he’s ending up essentially remaking fascism on a smaller scale.
The book shows a lot of promise, setting up various tantalizing potential storylines and outcomes, but this ends up being one of its biggest problems because it establishes these dark themes without, to me, satisfactorily resolving them; the main character is a PTSD-suffering alcoholic who was hell-bent on murdering his estranged wife until discovering she’s already died, apparently setting him up to do something interesting but other than a few unexpected acts of violence whilst he’s in some sort of trance, he never really does anything. Similarly, the idea that his uncle, the head of the cult/colony is seemingly built up as a tyrant with the power to take people’s lives on a whim but that doesn’t really go anywhere either and the book ends up frustratingly fizzling out.
So, in conclusion, the end is a disappointment and feels like a cop out. Too often I feel that authors leave the endings of their books vague or ambiguous like it’s some sort of clever literary device because you’re left wondering if you missed something and what really happened, but you end up suspecting it’s actually because they couldn’t really think of a really good ending so instead did a cop-out for which they could then blame the reader. BUT! Having said that, a lot of it shows promise, so I’ll almost certainly read some of his other work to see if that resolves the issues of this one.
It’s about a man who visits his uncle and aunt and their family in the jungle of what was then British Guyana, as he’s looking for a change of scenario after having been in the Spanish Civil War and is apparently suffering from what was then called ‘shell-shock’, though it’s later revealed this is just the excuse he gives and he actually has other problems. But the idyllic exterior of the community he finds soon disappears when it’s discovered that his uncle runs the settlement as an autocrat, and whilst he gives the impression it’s democratic, people basically have to follow his rules to the letter, which include him deciding which couples can have children, essentially keeping a man as a slave, and carrying out the death penalty on people who’ve committed quite minor crimes in order to supposedly maintain the integrity of the community. So whilst ostensibly rejecting Western civilization he’s ending up essentially remaking fascism on a smaller scale.
The book shows a lot of promise, setting up various tantalizing potential storylines and outcomes, but this ends up being one of its biggest problems because it establishes these dark themes without, to me, satisfactorily resolving them; the main character is a PTSD-suffering alcoholic who was hell-bent on murdering his estranged wife until discovering she’s already died, apparently setting him up to do something interesting but other than a few unexpected acts of violence whilst he’s in some sort of trance, he never really does anything. Similarly, the idea that his uncle, the head of the cult/colony is seemingly built up as a tyrant with the power to take people’s lives on a whim but that doesn’t really go anywhere either and the book ends up frustratingly fizzling out.
So, in conclusion, the end is a disappointment and feels like a cop out. Too often I feel that authors leave the endings of their books vague or ambiguous like it’s some sort of clever literary device because you’re left wondering if you missed something and what really happened, but you end up suspecting it’s actually because they couldn’t really think of a really good ending so instead did a cop-out for which they could then blame the reader. BUT! Having said that, a lot of it shows promise, so I’ll almost certainly read some of his other work to see if that resolves the issues of this one.
June 23, 2025
Superb in every way. This is Mittelholzer's best book in my humble opinion. Moss Hart tried to adapt it into a Broadway show in 1952, called the Climate of Eden which only ran 2 weeks. This is a subtly eerie book about a Utopian Community in British Guiana in the late 1930s and effect of an outsider visitor on it. The jungle and its sounds are a character in itself and it is a leisurely subtle read.
October 14, 2024
Despite the interesting setting, uncanny Jonestown connection and a bit of magical realism going for Shadows Move among Them, I think the overlooked Life and Death of Sylvia is actually a better book. This one is also good. Let's see what's next.
February 8, 2015
I cannot believe this book had been out of print. I came across this thought-provoking and entertaining novel by looking up books written by Guyanese writers.
Gregory Hawke is a man in crisis. His relationship with his work, his wife and his mother have driven him into becoming a shadow of the person he really was, is, or ought to be. This crisis pushes him into looking for a safe place far from what is known as "civilization" in order to get better. This place is located in the Guyanese jungle, near the banks of the Berbice river, where Mittelholzer set his ghost novella titled "My Flute and My Bones" (which is also worth reading for his alive depiction of the Guyanese jungle.)
This place is run by his aunt and her husband, the reverend Harmston, who is also in charge of a community of Guyanese natives. However, Gregory finds himself in a community where he does not know what "civilized" and "savage" mean anymore. At times, Gregory does not even know what is "real" and what is "fake".
Linguistically rich and descriptive, Edgar Mittelholzer's novel narrates Gregory's struggle, along with that of the reader's, at trying to discern what lies beyond these four concepts. Life and society's dogmas are put on trial in this novel in a very unorthodox way, which never becomes preachy or academic, but, on the contrary, entertaining and even funny at times. Olivia, one of Gregory's cousin, is one of those characters that you hate to love and love to hate, for she can be both nerve-racking and charismatic during the entire novel.
All in all, "Shadows Move Among Us" is a book full of clever twists, very well developed characters, and an exotic setting that comes alive on every page.
Gregory Hawke is a man in crisis. His relationship with his work, his wife and his mother have driven him into becoming a shadow of the person he really was, is, or ought to be. This crisis pushes him into looking for a safe place far from what is known as "civilization" in order to get better. This place is located in the Guyanese jungle, near the banks of the Berbice river, where Mittelholzer set his ghost novella titled "My Flute and My Bones" (which is also worth reading for his alive depiction of the Guyanese jungle.)
This place is run by his aunt and her husband, the reverend Harmston, who is also in charge of a community of Guyanese natives. However, Gregory finds himself in a community where he does not know what "civilized" and "savage" mean anymore. At times, Gregory does not even know what is "real" and what is "fake".
Linguistically rich and descriptive, Edgar Mittelholzer's novel narrates Gregory's struggle, along with that of the reader's, at trying to discern what lies beyond these four concepts. Life and society's dogmas are put on trial in this novel in a very unorthodox way, which never becomes preachy or academic, but, on the contrary, entertaining and even funny at times. Olivia, one of Gregory's cousin, is one of those characters that you hate to love and love to hate, for she can be both nerve-racking and charismatic during the entire novel.
All in all, "Shadows Move Among Us" is a book full of clever twists, very well developed characters, and an exotic setting that comes alive on every page.
September 22, 2015
I am busy reading this amazing novel. so I can finish my BA program with a thesis of my reading. Lots of work and really have to find an angle to write on. Critical thinking and writing my lecturer would say.
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April 8, 2014i think it is a good book
February 8, 2016
Very enjoyable book. I couldn't put down this book at all when I reading it. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an amazing adventure in the format of a book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews