Review: Belonging Tales from a life in Africa, Wales and beyond by Patricia James

Jo Verity

Patricia James’ grandchildren loved hearing of her adventures and when Covid 19 struck and the nation entered lockdown, they encouraged her to write these down. ‘Belonging’ is the result.

Born into a world on the brink of war, Pat grew up in the Dulais Valley, south Wales. Surrounded by a loving family and close community, her young life was full of fun and, although times were tough, she writes fondly of a childhood when she ‘never wanted for anything’.

At seventeen, she left Neath Grammar School to become a trainee with the Inland Revenue. Around this time, she met her future husband, John James. Pat’s mother wasn’t keen on her daughter’s ‘scruffy’ student boyfriend who turned up in a duffle-coat. Pat’s solution was to pop down to Neath and buy John a ‘smart grey overcoat’.

Pat and John married in 1961. Within a couple of years, John was working for Deloitte’s, they’d started a family and bought their first home.

So far, so predictable.

Benghazi

Before their engagement, John had talked of working abroad. Even so, Pat was shocked when, returning from a job interview, he announced ‘Right, we’re off to Benghazi’.

By mid-January 1963, John was in post, leaving Pat to sell their house and get herself and their toddler son to Libya. Quite something, bearing in mind it was the first time she’d been on an aeroplane.

Coming from a Welsh Valley, where the only ‘foreigners’ she’d encountered were her father’s family from Somerset, Pat knew nothing of Libyan culture. Her first days in Benghazi were an eye opener, particularly the dress code imposed on expat women – ‘no trousers or shorts; dresses had to be below the knee and up to the neck’ – and enforced by the local ‘morals police force’.

With the guidance and friendship of fellow expats, Pat soon adapted to the sights, tastes and smells of her new home. And there were work-arounds. Expat social life was centred on the Sailing Club, a private-members club where shorts and bathing costumes were allowed. When the couple hankered for the mountains of Wales, they took a picnic to a small green hill, a three-hour drive from Benghazi, dodging camels along the sandy route.

Much of John’s time was devoted to auditing BP’s operations across the Sahara but when, after a year and without explanation, the Libyan authorities refused to renew his visa, it was back to Wales to regroup and work out their next move.

Six months later, they were bound for Ghana.

Crocodiles 

With experience gained in Libya and a steer from a fast-growing coterie of friends, the couple threw themselves into life in Accra which was ‘a lot more laid-back’ than Benghazi. John was pivotal in the renovation and funding of The Tesano Social Club which became the hub of neighbourhood life.

Inevitably there are accounts of crocodiles and storm drains, tribal festivals and ‘hairy’ travel arrangements but Pat’s record of her everyday challenges – food shortages, infestations, relentless heat – bear witness to her resilience and resolve.

Ghana was struggling to find its feet after the expulsion of the dictator Nkruma and from 1966 on, an everchanging succession of military and civilian governments resulted in economic instability. By the early 70s, concerned by the way things were going, overseas workers were leaving. After spending the best part of nine years in Africa, and now with three young children to consider, it was time for the James family to head back to the UK.

They say ‘home is where the heart is’ and, after a spell in Essex, hiraeth drew the couple back to Wales. Here they met Laura and Bernard Ashley, and John landed the job of Financial Controller to their up-and-coming fashion company.

The second half of ‘Belonging’ covers the couple’s time in Mid-Wales. Rearing the children. The burgeoning Laura Ashley empire. Pat’s knitwear shop. Meeting the Royals. Extending hospitality to everyone from CEOs to stressed neighbours. Building their house in Llanidloes and a villa in France. Business trips and holidays. The tally goes on. Wherever they went, the James’s established friendships. What’s more, these friendships endured, testament to their generosity and positivity.

Lively anecdotes

Enhanced by its conversational style, Pat’s life story unfolds in a series of lively anecdotes which fit together like patches of a quilt, revealing a spirited, pragmatic, can-do woman; a people person, devoted to family and loyal to friends.

To publish a first book in one’s mid-eighties is a remarkable achievement but having read ‘Belonging’ and seen (as it were) Pat in action, her success comes as no surprise.

Belonging Tales from a life in Africa, Wales and beyond by Patricia James is Published by Parthian and is available to buy here. 

Jo Verity was born in Newport and has lived in London, Cwmbran and Cardiff. She wrote her first short story twenty-five years ago and ‘Rapid Eye Movement’ won the Richard & Judy Short Story Competition. She has a story in the new Rhys Davies prize winning anthology A Dictionary of Light. Alongside short fiction, Jo has published six novels with Honno Press and is currently grappling with the ending of her seventh.