Set in mid-century Martinique, this atmospheric novelAConfiant's first to be translated into EnglishAunfolds against a backdrop of political unrest as the islanders debate whether to accept independence from France. Adelise is a pretty, mixed-blood c?presse, raised by her mother in the isolated rural countryside. By the age of 14, she is working in the sugarcane fields, where she is repeatedly raped and first learns the survival mechanism of mind/body detachment. She finds solace "conversing" with her belovedAa tree in her backyard near which her umbilical cord is buried. At 16, she is sent to live with her aunt in the capital city, Fort-de-France. Vivacious Aunt Philom?ne is a prostitute on Morne Pichevin, one of the capital's many shack-packed mountain plateaus. Philom?ne hopes to find a rich husband for her niece, but soon Adelise is living the same life as her aunt, gossip-filled afternoons followed by nights on the street. For a while, Adelise is in love with Hom?re, a staid and treelike docksman, but eventually his steadfastness bores her. After continued misfortuneAAdelise glimpses a coffin when she reads her aunt's fortune; her apathetic neighbors resist community improvementAthe novel ends on a hopeful note. Despite dynamic details of fiery political island strife and colorful island fabulism, momentum stalls when chapters alternate between past and present, first and third person, and fail to build up to a satisfying climax. This is a less focused version of Patrick Chamoiseau's eloquent and vibrant Texaco, which also told of the fight for autonomy by the shanty dwellers of Martinique. Glossary of Creole terms included. (July) FYI: Martinique resident Confiant won the 1991 November Prize for Eau de Cafe.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
?You both refuse to admit life isn!t a game, you!re like dragonflies fluttering over waterlilies,? Adelise!s mother tells her, referring to her Aunt Philomene. Soon after, Adelise leaves the sugarcane fields of the Martinique countryside and goes to live in Fort-de-France. There, her aunt introduces Adelise to the unsavory nightlife of the city. Adelise readily gives up her body to any passing man but remains a fiercely independent woman. While she is a well-drawn character, the characters surrounding her are flat caricatures. The story, too, flutters like a dragonfly, touching on the political unrest of the capital, the city!s cultural background, and its vibrant festivals but never settling on one aspect long enough to give a complete picture. This novel, Confiant!s first to be published in English, was translated from French after having been translated from the Creole in which it was originally written; what once may have been poetic comes across as choppy and confused. A marginal purchase.?Yvette Olson, City Univ. Lib., Renton, WA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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