Segu: A Novel - Softcover

Conde, Maryse; Bray, Barbara

4.1

1,771 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014025949X ISBN 13: 9780140259490

Publisher: Penguin, 2005

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A powerful novel of Africa's history and the men and women who determined its fate. From the East came Islam. From the West, the slave trade. The battle for Africa's soul had begun...
"A wondrous novel about a period of African history few other writers have addressed... Much of the novel's radiance comes from the lush descriptions of a traditional life that is both exotic and violent."
-THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"Segu is an overwhelming accomplishment. It injects into the density of history characters who are as alive as you and I. Passionate, lusty, greedy, they are in conflict with themselves as well as with God and Mammon. Maryse Conde has done us all a tremendous service by rendering history so compelling and exciting. Segu is a literary masterpiece I could not put down."
-LOUISE MERIWETHER

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Review:

"The most significant novel about black Africa published in many a year."
-- The New York Times book Review

"Cond� is a born storyteller."
-- Publishers Weekly

"Exotic, richly textured and detailed, this narrative, alternating between the lives of various characters, illuminates magnificently a little known historical period. Virtually every page glitters with nuggets of cultural fascination."
--Howard Kaplan, Los Angeles Times

"A wondrous novel about a period of African history few other writers have addressed. ... Much of the novel's radiance comes from the lush description of a traditional life that is both exotic and violent."
--Charles L. Larson, The New York Times Book Review

"With the dazzling storytelling skills of an African griot, Maryse Cond� has written a rich, fast-paced saga of a great kingdom during the tumultuous period of the slave trade and the coming of Islam. Segu is history as vivid and immediate as today. It has restored a part of my past that has long been missing."
--Paule Marshall, author of Daughters

"Segu is an overwhelming accomplishment. It injects into the density of history characters who are as alive as you and I. Passionate, lusty, greedy, they are in conflict with themselves as well as with God and Mammon. Maryse Cond� has done us all a tremendous service by rendering a history so compelling and exciting. Segu is a literary masterpiece I could not put down."
--Louise Meriwether

"A stunning reaffirmation of Africa and its peoples as set down by others whose works have gone unnoticed. Ms. Cond� not only backs them up, but provides new insights as well. ... Segu has its own dynamic. It's a starburst."--John A. Williams

"A novel of wide scope, depth and power. Cond� proves herself a careful observer of human behavior as she helps the reader to under stand and feel the turmoil of a confused continent. She captures a fascinating time in history with its earth spirituality, religious fervor and the violent nature of a people and their growing nation. . .Brims over with intelligence and wit."
--Anniston Star (Alabama)

"Segu, a tale of love and intrigue, is fascinating, for the reader experiences the fervor of those tumultuous times."
--Chattanooga News-Free Press

From the Back Cover:

'Segu is a garden where cunning grows. Segu is built on treachery'

It is 1797 and the African kingdom of Segu, born of blood and violence, is at the height of its power. Yet Dousika Traore, the king's most trusted advisor, feels nothing but dread. Change is coming. From the East, a new religion, Islam. From the West, the slave trade. These forces will tear his country, his village and the lives of his beloved sons apart, in Maryse Cond�'s glittering epic of family, betrayal, religious fervour and the turbulent fate of a people.

'Rich and colourful and glorious. It sprawls over continents and centuries to find its way into the reader's heart' Maya Angelou

'Stunning ... it's a starburst' John A. Williams

'The most significant novel about black Africa published in many a year' The New York Times Book Review

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