This is a very special book. It is unlike anything I have read in Caribbean letters. In it the lives of some of our women are revealed with honesty, freshness and power. It is also a valuable book for those who are concerned with education. 
Lionheart Gal is a collection of 15 life stories of Jamaican women, with an introduction by the editor. The women are members of Sistren Theatre Collective, a drama group founded in 1977, whose members were drawn mostly from the emergency employment programme established by the government led by Michael Manley. The testimonies evolved from interviews, and were partly responses to the questions: “How did you first become aware of the fact that you were oppressed as a woman? How did that experience affect your life? How have you tried to change it?” The stories, however, both rural and urban, are more varied than these questions would suggest. Most are told in a rendering of Jamaican Creole, although some are told in Standard English. The range of language reflects the language continuum in Jamaica, and there is a glossary which some readers will find useful.