From Mr V. Laiviera

The 1960s and the 1970s must have been exciting time for Amanda Mallia (“A Taste of Things to Come”, TMID, 25 February) and her sisters.

They were young. They had a mission. Their leaders were fresh and virgin, their banners still bright and unsullied. To cap it all, there was the frisson of danger – whether real or imagined, slight or great, is hard to tell.

The enemy on the other hand were evil monsters, bent on cruelty and subjugation, a combination of all that is evil in human nature. It was the stuff of fairy tales.

Now, they have to face the fact that those heroes turned out to have clay feet, the banners are tattered, stained and sullied with a thousand cases of dubious dealing and. worst of all, the enemy turned out to be human after all. To put it mildly, life must seem dull and flat indeed.

No wonder they try to recreate the past with every word they write.

Victor Laiviera

NAXXAR