Gareth Jones

Heart Song Gareth Jones

This story is set in the context of the Afro-Caribbean Slave Trade, so what makes it different? Well, whilst out walking one day with my wife, I asked her the key question, which was; "What would a mother do if her child was taken and she thought she might be able to get him or her back?" My wife's answer was that the mother would do all she could to achieve that, and so I began to write. In doing so I found a second question; "If you were an ordinary boy who knew little of the world and you discovered one day that your life was based on a great evil, what would you do?" That became Leo's story. The third part of the Triangular Tale when joined with those of Baturou and his Mother. Another point of interest may be that this may be the most heavily researched book in the history of publishing! A bold claim indeed so here is the justification. I taught at Hailsham Community College for 34 years. For half of that time I taught History. The Afro-American Triangular Slave Trade was always on the syllabus as part of our study of the British Empire. I chose to teach it as a research project based in computer rooms. The young learners were asked to research and write a diary of the experiences of a child kidnapped from Africa and transported to the Caribbean, and of all that happened to them. Clearly, before you get the wrong idea, there were filters in place. This meant that I spent several hours a week for one whole term every year for 17 years reading over the shoulders of literally hundreds, if not thousands, of engaged young people researching this material, hence my claim. As I was doing this, I was writing my own version in my head and that, without the filters, was the origin of this book. I hope you think that reading it is time well spent.