The Orchid House is a book published in 1953, and the only novel written by Dominican writer Phyllis Shand Allfrey. It is considered "a pioneering work of Caribbean literature". [1] The Orchid House is a fictionalized account of Allfrey's early life, narrated by an old Black nurse Lally from Montserrat. It was turned into a highly acclaimed film for British television.
Originally published by Constable, it was reissued in 1982 by Virago Press, and reprinted in 1991 at the time its Channel 4 television adaptation of the same name came out (directed by Horace Ové with Casting Director John Hubbard [2] and starring Elizabeth Hurley, Madge Sinclair, Diana Quick, Kate Buffery, Lennox Honychurch, British painter and grand-niece of Phyllis Shand Allfrey, Lindy Allfrey [3] and Frances Barber. [4] [5] An American edition of the novel appeared in 1996.
A French-language version, La Maison des Orchidées, appeared in 1954. [6]
Summarized in an Introduction by Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert, "The novel, as narrated by the old nurse Lally, revolves around the return of three Creole sisters to their native island after years abroad: Stella, drawn to the lush tropical by an impassioned yearning; Joan, a grass-roots political activist in London; and Natalie, a wealthy old man's hedonistic widow..." [7]
Lwa, also called loa, are spirits in the African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou and Dominican Vúdu. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their identities in part from deities venerated in the traditional religions of West Africa, especially those of the Fon and Yoruba.
Obeah, also spelled Obiya or Obia, is a broad term for African diasporic religious, spell-casting, and healing traditions found primarily in the former British colonies of the Caribbean. These practices derive much from West African traditions but also incorporate elements of European and South Asian origin. Many of those who practice these traditions avoid the term Obeah due to the word's pejorative connotations in many Caribbean societies.
Kumina is an Afro-Jamaican religion. Kumina has practices that include secular ceremonies, dance and music that developed from the beliefs and traditions brought to the island by Kongo enslaved people and indentured labourers, from the Congo region of West Central Africa, during the post-emancipation era. It is mostly associated with the parish of St. Thomas in the east of the island. However, the practice spread to the parishes of Portland, St. Mary and St. Catherine, and the city of Kingston.
Phyllis Byam Shand Allfrey was a West Indian writer, socialist activist, newspaper editor and politician of the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. She is best known for her first novel, The Orchid House (1953), based on her own early life, which in 1991 was turned into a Channel 4 television miniseries of the same name in the United Kingdom.
The Orchid House is the title of:
The Orchid House is a four-part television serial that first aired on British television's Channel 4 from 21 February to 14 March 1991, directed by Horace Ové and produced by Malcolm Craddock. Its cast featured Diana Quick, Madge Sinclair, Nigel Terry, Elizabeth Hurley, Kate Buffery and Frances Barber, and was based on Phyllis Shand Allfrey's only novel of the same name.
Emmanuel Christopher Loblack OBE was a Dominican trade unionist and politician.
Marie-Thérèse Colimon-Hall, was a Haitian writer.
Espiritismo is a term used in Latin America and the Caribbean to refer to the popular belief that evolved and less evolved spirits can affect health, luck and other aspects of human life.
Gordon Alan Gebert Jr. is an American former child actor, architect, and professor predominantly known for playing Janet Leigh's son in Holiday Affair and for smaller roles. In adulthood, he trained as an architect and has taught at the City College of New York.
A series of workplace disturbances, strikes, and riots broke out across the British West Indies in the period between 1934 and 1939. These began as the Great Depression wore on and ceased on the eve of World War II. The unrest served to highlight inequalities of wealth, led the British government to attempt a solution to the problem, and in some cases spurred the development of indigenous party politics that would lead to self-government and independence in the postwar period.
Santería, also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an Afro-Caribbean religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose amid a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa, the Roman Catholic form of Christianity, and Spiritism. There is no central authority in control of Santería and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as creyentes ("believers").
Paulette Poujol-Oriol was a Haitian educator, actress, dramaturge, feminist and writer. Fluent in French, Creole, English, Spanish, German, and Italian, she contributed to Haitian arts and literature, and founded Picolo Teatro, a performing arts school for children. She has been recognized as one of Haiti's leading literary figures as well as one of the most active players in Haiti's feminist movement.
Florence Daysh, OBE (1908–1979) was a Barbadian social worker and politician. In 1954, she was appointed to the Legislative Council of Barbados and then in 1958, she was elected to serve in the West Indies Federation, one of only two women. In addition to her social welfare activities, Daysh actively worked to improve women's rights and served as the president of the Caribbean Women's Association in the 1960s. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1957.
Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert is a Puerto Rican academic who specializes in research of the Caribbean. She holds the Sarah Tod Fitz Randolph Distinguished Professor Chair at Vassar College.
Polly Pattullo Hon. FRSL is a British author, journalist, editor and publisher, who co-founded in 1998 the independent publishing company Papillote Press, based in Dominica, and London, England. Her writing has appeared in such publications as The Guardian, The Observer, Caribbean Insight, and Caribbean Beat, and she is the author or editor of several books, among them Last Resorts: the Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean (1996) and Your Time is Done Now: Slavery, Resistance and Defeat: the Maroon Trials of Dominica 1813–14 (2015).
In the Cuban religion of Santería, omiero, also known as purificacíon de santo, is a liquid used in various ritual acts.
Santería is an Afro-Cuban religion that arose in the 19th century.
J. R. Ralph Casimir was a Dominican poet, editor, journalist and bookseller. A pioneering Caribbean pan-Africanist, he was a founding member of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), organising its Dominica branch. Casimir also compiled Dominica's first poetry anthologies.
ISBN 1-85381-338-9 (paperback, Virago Press, 1991 reprint) ISBN 0-8135-2332-X (New brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1992)