The Tide Between Us Quotes

“Lydia didn’t wait for Blair’s funeral. Their friends thought she was so traumatised by the event that she fled the country immediately. The truth was she was afraid it would be discovered that Henry killed his father. She wanted to take him away as quickly as possible to another country where Blair Stratford-Rice’s murder in distant Jamaica would never be speculated upon. She would take Leon with her, the only witness to Henry’s guilt and one of the few people who treated her son with kindness.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Blair fired the gun just as Art moved. The bullet hit him in the back.  Blair began to shout, “Thieves! Thieves! Thieves are robbing me! ” Leon rushed to his father’s side. “Run!” Art gasped. He clutched Leon’s hand for a moment before his grip loosened. Leon looked up to see Blair aiming the gun at him. “You too,” Blair snarled, “or you’ll be back to burn me out of my home.” Then he shouted again, “Thieves! Thieves! Thieves are robbing me!”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“In the early months of 1891, Leon followed his father, Art, to the Big House. Leon sensed that trouble was brewing for his father. He’d secretly been forewarned by Henry that Blair was plotting something awful for Art.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Akeem ‘Fonsy’ 1881–1923.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Okeke took Art O’Neill’s grandson, Akeem, and sold him.” For several moments nobody spoke. “There is a story that Blair Stratford’s wife, Lydia, hated her husband as much as their crippled son did. Fearing that the truth would be revealed – that her crippled boy had killed his father – she fled, taking the only witness, the overseer’s son, Leon O’Neill, with her.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“This son was also a grandson of the overseer. Yes, relationships could become complicated in those days, with the masters having children outside marriage by their slaves or by the local women. Okeke was that grandson’s name. He would be my age if he is still alive. For a few years he was educated and then he worked for Mr. Stratford-Rice. When times were hard Mr. Stratford-Rice went into the slave-trading business. They brought slaves from Cuba and sold them to countries that continued slavery. Sometimes when their cargo was low they took some easy pickings from the shores of Black River.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Not only was Rachel wasting her life on her courses, she was a vegetarian who wrote prissy articles advising what people should eat.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Darling Emilia, it might be best. It may not be forever – perhaps just a temporary arrangement until people here forget.” “People will never forget. I cannot forget despite the penalties. When I saw Jonathan again, I knew I would never forget.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Yseult slumped in the chair close to the stove. The door of the Aga was open. Page by page she ripped up Aunt Lydia’s old photo albums and fed the old black-and-white photos to the flames.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Yseult wiped the dust from the spine of one of the albums. “Jamaica 1880–1890. ” She wanted the Irish albums. She knew the tree where the corpse lay was not planted in the last fifty years.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“we learned that Okeke’s ship had come from Cuba and was going to Morocco. Three years previously, Cuba had freed its slaves. It was one of the last European colonies to abolish slavery. Okeke was taking freed slaves from Cuba, luring children, young men and seasoned slaves onto his ships and selling them to countries as far away as Morocco where slavery continued.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Akeem is missin’.” Emmet’s voice was barely audible. Helplessly he pointed out to sea, aware it was futile. On the horizon was Okeke’s ship as it embarked on its voyage.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“In 1889, I knew things were souring between Blair, Okeke and the French Prince. It began with their shipment of cargo on Black River’s pier. His goods had spoiled,”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“I am more like my father’s people. My grandmother Flora was crazy and you are Irish,” he said as if my nationality soiled his pedigree. That day I thought he did not realise how offensive his comment was. Later I realised offending us was irrelevant to Okeke.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Two weeks later Mistress gave birth to a boy.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“As the end of the 1870s approached, things took a turn for the worse for Mangrove Plantation. Blair’s crop spoiled for two years in succession. He was forced to close the brewery and lease most of his lands.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Blair continued to educate the boy. Each day Okeke arrived at the Big House early in the morning for his day’s lessons. By the age of ten he spoke with their accent, and knew other languages. He could read and write as well as any learned man.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Miss Lydia remained to become Blair’s third wife.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“A group of visitors arrived from Europe in 1876. They were English and Anglo-Irish.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“By the late 1850’s half of the plantations in Jamaica had folded up. Many of the plantations were partly or wholly abandoned and the price of the property plummeted. During those years, Ned Doyle and I bought pockets of land.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“By 1850, I had four sons and two daughters with Myrtle.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“August 1, 1838, the British Parliament ended the apprenticeship programme, which had become an enormous administrative burden, and granted full emancipation to more than 300,000 slaves in Jamaica.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Arry!” I held her face, doubting my eyes, and then scooped her up in my arms.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“It was Burdan.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“1833, the Emancipation Act was passed. Slavery would be phased out over the coming four years.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“coin valued at fifty pounds. Whenever I wished to cease working for the Stratford-Rices, I would receive my gold. In the presence of her attorney and her sons, she showed me a pouch with my name on the front and two gold coins.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“As a token of her gratitude, for each decade of service I would receive one gold”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“she had a document drafted and signed by each of the men. I would manage the estate for the next ten years at which stage they would review it each year until Blair was old enough to ascertain his wishes. I would be paid 100 pounds a year and 15 acres of land would be mine.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“Then, on the 1st January 1832, one of the slaves woke me to tell me about a riot on the neighbouring plantation”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation

“For the last four years I had skimmed off the surface to make more money. I too had benefited from the slavery system.”
― Olive Collins, The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation