Beverley East's new book Reaper of Souls is a semi-fictional effort about The Kendal train crash, a significant historical event that has been the subject of hushed conversations in Jamaican circles for decades.

As midnight drew near on Sunday, September 1, 1957, a double-engine diesel train with 12 wooden coaches sped around a bend on a track near the sleepy town of Kendal, in the central parish of Manchester, Jamaica.

Church excursion

The train was on its way back to Kingston, where it had left that morning for a church excursion to Montego Bay on the west coast. There were nearly 1,600 persons on the train that night as it approached Kendal.

Many were members of the St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church. Others were known hooligans, who had hopped on-board for a free ride into town.

Residents of Kendal say that as the train approached their community, they heard three shrill whistle blasts, then a deafening rumble. The train derailed and plummeted over a precipice. Some of the coaches fell onto others packed with passengers, crushing them instantly.

The Kendal rail crash is the greatest transport disaster to have rocked the small island nation. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the tragic incident in which 254 people died and more than 700 were injured.

Beverley East lost 14 members of her family on that fateful train. She explores the possibilities of their lives and the effects their deaths had on the family in her latest offering.

Disasters

Forget Paddington, Potters Bar, Hatfield or Selby. The Kendal rail crash still ranks in the top 10 rail disasters of all time. At the time it happened, it was the second worst rail accident in the world and a nightmare for those who had to deal with its consequences.

The blanket of silence that has covered the details surrounding the crash has stained the Jamaican psyche over the past five decades. Yet despite unfriendly advice to let sleeping dogs lie - in this case humans - East has unveiled its horror sheet by sheet exposing 'the truth', in an attempt at bringing closure to the victims both dead and alive.

"The truth needs to be told, if not, how can there be peace?" she asked. "How can the dead rest? To this day there is still no marker at Kendal, which irritates me. The Jamaican government needs to acknowledge what took place and the people that died," she said. She added: "I find it harrowing that there are approximately 180 people lying in a mass grave in Kendal and no marker has been placed, which means people without any knowledge can casually walk over the dead." East explained that the first time she went to Kendal to lay flowers she had to calculate where the spot was by reading archive documents.

"It felt so wrong that I had to guess where my family and other victims were," she stated. The best-selling author of Finding Mr. Right claims power over what had eluded her for so long.

"Bodies belonging to my family were never found to bury, which is why my family, in particular my dad found it so hard to grieve. There wasn't any point for my dad to return to Jamaica. There was no nine-nights, or funerals. Nothing was organised because there were no bodies to bury," she lamented. The non-burial of victims claimed by the Kendal crash was not unique to the East family. Numerous other families suffered the same consequence, which is why many have argued that there was and still is a subconscious oath of silence.

Routes

Since a youngster, East could never understand why her family was petrified of traveling on trains. Customarily they would always split into groups and travel via different routes despite all going to the same destination.

"As soon as I knew about my family's skeleton, I was able to make sense of our family's traveling rules and why my father fell into sudden depression."

No longer seeing Jamaica in rose-tinted holiday glasses, East opted for trips to the library in order to research the crash rather than topping up her tan at the beach. "The more information I learnt, the more I became attached to the crash," she told The Voice. East discovered the most shocking revelations during her interviews with various survivors. The allegation of rape was often mentioned, because of the bandits on the train.

"My mind always wonders if my grandmother, aunts or female cousins fell prey to the sexual assaults that allegedly took place on the train but because they never lived to tell the tale; nobody including myself will ever know the truth."

As to the secrecy surrounding the crash, East feels the hush is due to the horrific nature of the accident. "The crash was swept under the carpet because the government was embarrassed. You know, when something is so bad, you just want it to go away and stay away. That's exactly what Jamaicans have done all these years.

Difficulties

"I believe people died a very slow and painful death. Kendal is in the middle of nowhere and like all isolated destinations, when it's dark it's pitch black! The emergency services would have had great difficulties responding to the crash. I feel more people would have survived if the incident took place in daylight and in a more active town such as Montego Bay or Kingston."

No conclusive reason has been given for the train's derailment. But conspiracy theories have remained rife and grown over the years. East said: "Some say the train was over-crowded, some say it was going too fast. Others say it crashed because a Roman Catholic priest who was on board condemned the train due to the criminal activities that were taking place. Who knows?"

However, an element that many who tell the tall tales about Kendal agree on is the numerous sightings of 'restless spirits' that have haunted the spot over the years.

East is a believer: "I do think there are hundreds of lost souls who died in the crash roaming Jamaica. In fact, while composing my novel I was befriended by many who assisted me in my research. I would often retire to bed exhausted and mentally blank but, when I rose the next day I was filled with knowledge about the crash and ready to write again. I know within my heart it was spirits helping me all the way, especially my relatives."

She told The Voice of a visit she made to Kendal with her sister to photograph the area. At the time there was nobody there except for both of them yet. Yet, when they looked at the pictures they developed there was a small girl or woman in the distance - on the track, dressed in a very old-fashioned style. "She had to be a ghost!

There was no other explanation," declared East. 'The ghost' from East's photograph has now found her way on to the front cover of the book. "There was no way I could leave her out. If I did I would be ignoring her all over again," stated East. Woven throughout the novel are various ghost characters because East strongly felt that her spiritual connection with the Kendal spirits were so pronounced within her research experience.

"My favourite chapter in the whole novel is Lucy, which is based on a female ghost. I dreamt her from the get go and I know she guided me all the way through my journey," said East.

Overwhelmed with the attention Reaper of Souls has gained including film and documentary offers, East cannot believe her penmanship regarding the crash is over. "I have finally given birth to my baby, albeit the labour took 25 years, beating my biological son. This book means so much to me and my family. I can't express my emotions into words. I had to fight so many obstacles and issues and I'm so grateful for everybody who has helped me on the way." She continued: "I wanted to make my novel exciting and I really wanted my characters to come alive especially because they are based on my own family members who died. I did not want my book to be sad or morbid because the crash was tragic enough." Now back in the USA, after living in Kingston for the past 4 years researching background information for her novel and interviewing survivors, East's future writing plans will be on immigration and a selection of short Caribbean stories.

"I am not picking up a pen for all of next year because I will be concentrating on developing Reaper of Souls to higher levels. I'm all played out," she laughs.

"But whatever I do I hope it will bring me as much joy as Reaper of Souls. May the Kendal dead finally rest in peace!"