Latest book

A picture of life in the South American country of Venezuela in the late 1960s is the latest book from Bramshott Grange’s very own published author, Doreen Binks.

The book, Letters from Venezuela 1967-1969, is compiled from the letters Doreen sent to her mother during her time living in the country’s capital, Caracas.

It’s a follow up to her book Letters from Jamaica 1961-1965 which was published in 2016 and which also featured letters Doreen sent to her mum.

Doreen’s interesting foreign travel came as a result of her husband Ken’s job as an electrical engineer.

The couple met whilst they were both studying at Leeds University. Love blossomed, they married and had two children, Jane and Richard.

There was a demand overseas for trained engineers, so when the children were young, Ken and Doreen decided it was the opportune time to experience life in another country.

Ken got a job at the Jamaica Public Service, whilst Doreen put her diploma in social work to good use by getting work for a children’s voluntary service in the country’s capital, Kingston.

It was during their four years in Jamaica that Doreen, a keen writer, sent well over 100 letters to her mum living in Nottingham, sharing the experiences the family were having on the Caribbean Island.

“We had four very good years in Jamaica and one of the highlights was being there when the country celebrated becoming independent from the UK,” says Doreen.

The family had only been living back in the UK for two years when Ken received another overseas job offer, this time in Venezuela.

Doreen recalls: “We had heard rumours that Venezuela was a lawless country, so we were not sure at first, especially as we had only returned from Jamaica two years previously and thought our parents would be upset at us going away again.

“We decided to go but just before we arrived in Caracas there had been an earthquake that affected the city. This meant the flats were cheap in the area because no-one wanted to live there and we did experience a couple of tremors ourselves, before we moved to another flat higher up in the city.”

Doreen says with her Spanish being limited, the opportunities to work herself were limited so she concentrated on bringing up her children and getting involved in voluntary work when she could. This included becoming a leader of the girl scouts Jane attended.

“It was the Girl Scouts of America, so I always feel guilty saluting the stars and stripes,” jokes Doreen.

With the children’s education reaching an important stage, Doreen decided to move back to the UK, whilst Ken remained in Venezuela to complete his contract.

Doreen adds: “On the way back we visited some of the Caribbean islands, before flying to Montreal in Canada to sail back to Liverpool, where my parents were waiting for us at the docks.”

Eventually, all the family settled in Petersfield and Doreen went on to become a Psychiatric Social Worker, having studied at the London School of Economics.

It was in Petersfield that Doreen put her first book together, a history of Petersfield in World War One.

Then, she had the idea to turn the letters she had sent her mother during her foreign travels into a book.

Doreen says: “When I came back from Jamaica my mother presented me with all my letters in a box. I had no idea she kept them.

“I was involved with oral history museum in Petersfield and a lady helped me to put the letters together in a chronological order and this became my next book.

“I did the same with the letters I sent from Venezuela and this book was published in November 2023.

“You have to remember that letters were really the only form of communication back then, particularly in the two countries we lived in where the phone lines were poor, so it’s nice to have been able to preserve some of our family history in this way.”

Doreen, who now also has four grandchildren and one great grandchild, came to live in Bramshott Grange in 2022 and as part of our activity programme, she runs a book club where the ladies and gentlemen discuss the books they are reading.

And they got a special sneak preview when Doreen read out excerpts from Letters from Venezuela at a recent session.