Pilgrim State
Like many women in the early to mid 1900s, Dorothy Walker is forced into a mental institute through no fault of her own.
Her story is recreated by her daughter Jacqueline, from social service records, transcripts of interviews, photos and Jacqueline’s memories of her mother.
The biographical account begins in 1951 at the Pilgrim State mental Facility in New York State. She has come to New York from Jamaica to study medicine but she has been forcibly sectioned and is battling to keep her children and her sanity.
Dorothy and her children return to Jamaica before finally making a home in London in the early 60s. After the vibrancy of Harlem and the warmth of Jamaica, London appears grey and unwelcoming.
Here they face prejudice, poverty and separation but they make the city their home, a place where their love and ability to find hope and joy even in the most desperate circumstances can finally take root.
Haunting, powerful and poignantly written, Dorothy’s story is one that will stay with you long after the final page.
The Author:
Jacqueline Walker arrived in Britain in 1959. She has been a teacher, a mother of three, taught creative writing as well as having completed two Arvon writing courses. Pilgrim State is her first book.