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All Souls' Rising: A Novel of Haiti (1) Paperback – November 9, 2004
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"One of the most spohisticated fictional treatments of the enduring themes of class, color, and freedom." --San Francisco Chronicle
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST
This first installment of the epic Haitian trilogy brings to life a decisive moment in the history of race, class, and colonialism. The slave uprising in Haiti was a momentous contribution to the tide of revolution that swept over the Western world at the end of the 1700s. A brutal rebellion that strove to overturn a vicious system of slavery, the uprising successfully transformed Haiti from a European colony to the world’s first Black republic. From the center of this horrific maelstrom, the heroic figure of Toussaint Louverture–a loyal, literate slave and both a devout Catholic and Vodouisant–emerges as the man who will take the merciless fires of violence and vengeance and forge a revolutionary war fueled by liberty and equality.
Bell assembles a kaleidoscopic portrait of this seminal movement through a tableau of characters that encompass black, white, male, female, rich, poor, free and enslaved. Pulsing with brilliant detail, All Soul’s Rising provides a visceral sense of the pain, terror, confusion, and triumph of revolution.
- Print length560 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherVintage
- Publication dateNovember 9, 2004
- Dimensions5.2 x 1.2 x 8.01 inches
- ISBN-101400076536
- ISBN-13978-1400076536
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“A serious historical novel that reads like a dream.” –The Washington Post Book World
“Rich and ambitious. . . . One of the most sophisticated fictional treatments of the enduring themes of class, color, and freedom.” –San Francisco Chronicle
“A powerful and intelligent novel. . . . Historical fiction in the monumental manner.” –The New York Times Book Review
“A beautifully composed, eloquent, grand nightmare of a book. With it, Bell becomes as remarkable a historical novelist as we have in this country.” –Harold Bloom
“A work of breathtaking stylistic expertise on a large scale, easily [Bell’s] most daring and accomplished novel.” —The Baltimore Sun
“A passionately engaged opus. All Souls’ Rising reflects both a sustained imaginative audacity and great intellectual resourcefulness.” —The New Yorker
“Remarkable. . . . All Souls’ Rising deserves to be read for its fictional representation of history and for its compelling characterizations. But its political importance should not be underestimated. . . . Bell’s excursion into revolutionary Haiti is the attempt of an undaunted novelist to stand face to face, as it were, with the prehistory of our own racial divisiveness. . . . An important book.” —The Oregonian
“I’ve known Madison Smartt Bell’s work for quite a while, and this is the best thing he’s ever done–and probably the best thing he’ll ever do, which is my definition of a masterpiece. All Souls’ Rising is simply breathtaking.” —Gloria Naylor
“The scope of this ambitious narrative is heroic. . . . Bell demonstrates that each race destroys itself in doing evil to the other.” —Chicago Tribune
“A major work, a triumph of both storytelling and inspired historical analysis.” —Robert Stone
“A vivid, visceral tale. . . . [Bell] has taken the events of eighteenth-century colonial Haiti and made them a prism for the most divisive issues confronting us today.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Bell’s luminous, intelligent novel . . . is magnificent. It restores my faith in the energy of American fiction.” —Barbara Probst Solomon
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Bell assembles a kaleidoscopic portrait of this seminal movement through a tableau of characters that encompass black, white, male, female, rich, poor, free and enslaved. Pulsing with brilliant detail, All Soul's Rising provides a visceral sense of the pain, terror, confusion, and triumph of revolution.
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Vintage; First Edition (November 9, 2004)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 560 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1400076536
- ISBN-13 : 978-1400076536
- Item Weight : 1.04 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.2 x 1.2 x 8.01 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #150,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #433 in Biographical Historical Fiction
- #1,390 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #9,528 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Madison Smartt Bell is a critically acclaimed writer of more than a dozen novels and story collections, as well as numerous essays and reviews for publications such as Harper’s and the New York Times Book Review. His books have been finalists for both the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, among other honors.
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And then all hell breaks loose! I cannot over-emphasize the violence of this book. It is not unnecessarily so, however. To do any less would be a disservice to the facts. In order to appreciate the events that took place, we need to understand what people were experiencing.
But it is appreciated that the violence is mostly limited to the middle of the book. Once the initial rebellion settles into more of a resistance, we begin to move forward and follow the stories without fear of the gruesome.
The relationships in this book are beautifully painted, showing the love between races and the difficult emotions associated with being the half-breed child of a cruel slave master and his slave-woman mistress. When you're running for your life because the other side wants to kill everyone who is of one race or the other, what happens when you're half of each? Who do you trust? Who can trust you?
If you are interested in Haitian culture or history, African-American history, or just history in general, or if you like a really good book, this is an excellent read. It was helpful for me that I understood some of the French (although translations are provided for some of the longer phrases) and that I've been to several of the places mentioned in the book. Anyone can read the book and enjoy it, but if you understand a little bit about Haitian Vodou and/or the history and culture, you'll appreciate it even more. There is a helpful chronology of historical events at the back of the book, as well as a glossary of Haitian Kreyol terms which helps the reader.
Again, the book is EXTREMELY violent. Do not under-estimate my warning if you cannot deal with vivid mental images.
this first installment of his multi-book series succeeds as fiction as well as a window into a brutal, ugly, and ultimately inspiring moment in human history. the stories of haitian slavery and racial hatred/violence is as shocking and disturbing as anything i've read. bell's deeply nuanced portrayal of humans -- the good and the bad -- is stunning. it reads like a vivid dream.
more please!
Top reviews from other countries
Living in Canada it was interesting to see what the race relations were like there, as compared to our country and the United States.








