In Donna NebenzahlsTo Linger with Youa quest to fill a psychic void morphs into a rich family history replete with secrets and surprises Nebenzahls sensuous appreciation of her tropical home in British Guiana is bulwarked by careful research and a clear eyed reckoning with the legacies of slavery and indentured servitudeTo Linger with Youspeaks of and to the parts of our personal heritage that dont seem to add up and then suddenly do This fascinating and carefully observed memoir deserves a wide readership
Elaine Kalman Naves author ofShoshannas StoryandJourney to Vaja

Donna Nebenzahl enjoyed an idyllic childhood in British Guiana or so she thought Her maternal grandparents cousins aunts and uncles had enveloped her in love All she lacked were parents Her eventual need for the truth about the past led her to ask a few hard questions Why did her father die young Why did her mother abandon her And just who were her fathers parents Nebenzahls discovery of the answers turns this beautiful memoir from a nostalgic evocation of Caribbean privilege into something richer deeper and more troubling
Mark Abley author ofThe Organist Fugues Fatherhood and a Fragile Mind

This is a gorgeous gift of a memoir Donna Nebenzahl is one gifted and righteous keeper of her family stories which are remembered and recounted here in cinematic detail From her childhood in the home of her welltodo grandparents who came to what was then British Guiana from Portugal to her life as an emigrant to Canada Ms Nebenzahls family story is redolent with love and lossTo Linger With Youcan be read as a high praise song to one family and the Edenic landscape of the authors childhood home but it is also a testament to the strength and resilience of immigrants and a welcome and cleareyed commentary on the many cultural influences that shaped the modern Caribbean
Lorna Goodison prizewinning author ofFrom Harvey River A Memoir of My Mother and Her Island