By Debbie Ransome

Going beyond the basic storyline to dig deeper into the Haitian reality and how it gets reported, this novel will interest anyone who has ever engaged with the darker side of Caribbean life - or anyone seeking inside knowledge of the BBC people who cover the world via the World Service.

An Elusive Truth is written by former BBC manager Jerry Timmins. Jerry was key to the BBC’s rejuvenated Caribbean Service, which ran from 1988 to 2011 after its earlier versions during World War II and in the 1970s. For his efforts, he became its first section head before moving on to become Head of the Americas region at the World Service headquarters in Bush House [pictured].

In this book, he makes full use of all this expertise, acquired by visiting the region, getting to know Caribbean journalists and his role in recruiting those who became the voices of BBC Caribbean. Full disclosure: following the late Jamaican broadcaster Hugh Crosskill, I was one of those recruits, lured to Bush House from my role as news director at Radio Trinidad. I can confirm that Jerry knows what he’s writing about as he depicts his fictional reporter, Lucas, trying to pin down the complexities of Haiti and the challenges of global reporting.

Lucas is a rookie, sent in to research material for the more experienced journalists to do their follow-up coverage. But when the latest crisis hits and flights are stopped, he becomes one of the few foreign journalists on the ground, trying to get his head around the enigma that is Haiti.

The people he encounters take us beyond Haiti’s stereotypical image of coups, corruption and voodoo. They outline their passion for their country and their hope for a brighter future. This book could have been based at any time in Haiti’s complicated modern history, yet its modern-day setting allows us to get a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes world of global reporting. It gives you, in detail, the challenges facing the reporter simply trying to get a phone line out to file his or her report back to Bush House. Some of us have been there and it’s not an easy task.

We follow Haiti through the eyes of a novice:

Lucas had read accounts of the fertile soil and lush vegetation that had typified this Pearl of the Caribbean, but now all he saw was wasteland. Where were the trees to make the charcoal that burned in the slums below? Where was the soil to grow the meagre amounts of food in the markets? It seemed everything that had made this country great had eroded into myth. He didn’t know Haiti at all, he told himself. He was not sure he ever would. [p111]

A whole range of desires is explored, from the passion for a better country in the general populace, who stage protests in the face of brutal repression, to the local radio teams who press on, despite the threat of death, to serve their listeners.

There’s a love story in there too, but there will be no spoilers here.

If you’ve ever wondered how the World Service operates, this gives you a first-hand view of the characters behind the scenes. They’re often eccentric, but they’re single-minded in their determination to make their global coverage the best it can be.

Jerry also gives a nod to the Caribbean Service which, until its closure 14 years ago, provided the daily teatime global news filtered through a Caribbean lens for regional audiences. Given that we won an International Broadcasting award for our Haiti work after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake, I’m glad that the role we played has been acknowledged, albeit in fictional form. In this novel, however, the quake never happened and the Presidential Palace is still standing. For those of you who remember the rich tones of Hugh Crosskill, who ran the Caribbean Service before me, there’s a character in the book, Courtney James, whose “resonant voice rumbling down the line” from London is a wonderful tribute.

An Elusive Truth is a difficult read for its portrayal of the challenges facing Haiti. Through Lucas, we get to see that there are no easy answers for the country. Its people are passionate about a good future, woven in between their brutal present and their deep respect of their individual and collective pasts.

It’s well worth a read, whether you’re a lover of the people of Haiti, a journalist, an aspiring journalist or simply a fan of the World Service. Or maybe you just want an exploration of what love means in our complicated modern times.

As one of my former editors in the Bush House newsroom would have said about this book: “A good yarn.”

An Elusive Truth by Jerry Timmins, GMT Media Ltd, 2024.

Debbie Ransome served as a CANA correspondent in the 1980s before becoming news director at Radio Trinidad. She then returned to the UK to join the BBC’s Caribbean Service which she later led from 1998 to 2011 when it was closed as part of BBC cuts. These days, Debbie's portfolio includes being the Managing Editor of Caribbean Intelligence.

Related articles:

Haiti: Ten years on
Haiti’s Duvalier dilemma