"Bare Feet In The Palace" 1955 KEITH, Agnes Newton
$75
KEITH, Agnes Newton
Illustrated by the author
[370] pp.
Little, Brown and Company
1955
First Edition
8 1/2" x 5 3/4"
Jacket design by Samuel H. Bryant
VG/ VG
"Bare Feet in the Palace" is an excellent account of the people of the Philippines during the transition time after WWII, (1948-1952), as they became a truly independent country. It describes post-war Manila as well as the other areas of the country. There is a very heart-stirring account of the first free election. Included are anecdotes about her family's life during their time in Manila. Her adolescent son, her husband (who worked for the British Government as a Forestry Expert previous to WWII, but in the Philippines, works for the UN), herself and their life with the locals make for interesting reading. She writes about the people; how they felt, why they felt that way, how they overcame, why they didn't overcome, and the circumstances surrounding them.
Having retired from his government's service, Keith's husband was, in 1953, prevailed upon to go to the Philippines for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Bare Feet in the Palace (1955) resulted. It is a mixture of personal experiences, sketches of people, and information about the society and its history. A central theme is the creation of democracy in Asia; the title refers to the coming of poor natives to the 200-year-old former palace of Spanish governors, now the residence of a democratically elected president.