Season of the Shadow - (French List) by Léonora Miano (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Now in paperback, a brutal and dreamlike story about the first victims of the transatlantic slave trade.

This powerful novel presents the early days of the transatlantic slave trade from a new perspective: that of the sub-Saharan population that became its first victims. Cameroonian novelist Léonora Miano presents a world on the brink of disappearing--a pre-colonial civilization with roots that stretch back for centuries. One day, a group of villagers finds twelve of their people missing. Where have they gone? Who is responsible? A collective dream, troubling a group of mothers in a communal dwelling, may have some of the answers, as the women's missing sons call to them in terror; at the same time, a thick shadow settles over the huts, blocking out the light of day. It is the shadow of slavery, which will soon grow to blight the whole world.

Miano renders this brutal story in deliberately strange, dreamlike prose, befitting a situation that is, on its face, all but impossible for the villagers to believe.

Review Quotes

"Extraordinary. . . . Miano's feat is to restrict her perspective to the points of view of the Mulongo, conjuring afresh the horror and immediacy of an event that time has rendered matter-of-fact. . . . The writing, benefiting from Gila Walker's excellent translation from the French, is restrained and dispassionate, so that its fierce emotional energy seems to well up naturally from the characters rather than being imposed by the author from without. . . . A work of remarkable fidelity and dedication, this novel, too, seems to possess the strength to bring back the stolen."-- "Wall Street Journal"

"Narratively thrilling. . . profoundly original."-- "New York Times"

"This work of historical immersion drops readers into the heart of an isolated African community devastated by the arrival of European slavers. Léonora Miano's novel, in Gila Walker's translation, dramatizes an unfathomable catastrophe, and its captivating portrayal of the lost world's rites and customs makes it a vital act of restoration."-- "Wall Street Journal Best Books of 2018"

About the Author

Léonora Miano is a Cameroonian writer who lives in France. She is the author of seven novels and two collections of essays. Season of the Shadow is her second book to be translated into English; her debut novel, Dark Heart of the Night, won the Prix Femina when it was published in French in 2013. Gila Walker is a translator who splits her time between New York City and southwestern France.