The Other Side of the Sea (CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French): A Novel - Softcover

Louis-Philippe Dalembert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813936470 ISBN 13: 9780813936475

Publisher: University of Virginia Press, 2014

Synopsis

The Other Side of the Sea, the first novel by this major Haitian author to be translated into English, expresses a powerful preoccupation with other shores - whether it is the ancestral Africa that still haunts Haitians, the America to which so many have emigrated, or even that final shore, the uncertain afterlife awaiting us all. With two generations sharing the narration, this rich and concise tale covers an impressive span of Haitian history and emotion. Too old to leave her veranda, Noubòt reflects on her past, touching on the 1937 Parsley Massacre, in which thousands of Haitians died at the hands of Dominican soldiers, and lamenting the exodus of so many young people from Haiti, although, ironically, she dreamed of making the trip herself (her name means New Boat in Creole). Her story is juxtaposed with that of her grandson, Jonas, as he suffers the abandonment of friends - including his lover - who emigrated during the Duvalier dictatorships, even feeling an urge to join them. Perhaps most striking is the addition of a third voice - that of an anonymous passenger in steerage recounting a slave ship’s progress to the New World from Africa. This voice from long ago provides a powerful depiction of the sights, sounds, and smells of the Middle Passage and a fascinating counterpoint to the evocations of modern Haiti.

About this title

Review:

Dalembert is among the major contemporary voices, not only in Haitian letters but also on the global francophone and international literary scene. Although his works have been translated into several languages, until now there was no English translation of this great book. It fills a very big gap in Haitian letters in English.

--Micheline Rice-Maximin, Swarthmore College

[The Other Side of the Sea] would be well placed in the collections of lovers of Caribbean literature as well as in courses on Caribbean or Haitian history, Caribbean or Haitian literature, and, more broadly, interdisciplinary and cultural studies.

--Journal of Haitian Studies

About the Author:

Louis-Philippe Dalembert was born in Port-au-Prince in 1962. The author of numerous works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, he has lived and taught in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.

Robert H. McCormick, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Literature and Creative Writing at Franklin University Switzerland.

Edwidge Danticat, author of B reath, Eyes, Memory and Brother, I’m Dying, is a recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and a MacArthur Genius Grant.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Virginia Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0813936470
• ISBN 13: 9780813936475
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128