The Other Side of the Sea - (Caraf Books) by Louis-Philippe Dalembert (Paperback)

About the Book

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 Breath, Eyes, Memory and Brother, I'm Dying, is a recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and a MacArthur Genius Grant.

Book Synopsis

The Other Side of the Sea, the first novel by this major Haitian author to be translated into English, is riveted on the other shore--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 a grandmother and her grandson 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 laments 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.

CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French

Review Quotes

[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.

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.

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 Breath, Eyes, Memory and Brother, I?m Dying, is a recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and a MacArthur Genius Grant.