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Desirada |
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D esirada byMaryse Condé Translated by Richard Philcox Soho Press 272 pages, November 2000 ISBN 1569472157 Reviewed by Zaheera Jiwaji Winner of the 1998 Prix Carbet de la Caraibe (presented for the best book by a French Caribbean author). To read Maryse Condé is an experience in poetry. She writes with an imagination that takes the reader on a lyrical journey. Simultaneously, the precision with which she captures aspects of the human condition displays her ability to balance the real and the magical. Desirada is the story of Marie-Noelle's search for identity. Illegitimate, and later abandoned by her teenage mother, she leads a hollow existence moving through experiences and accomplishments without feeling. Her sole pursuit is to discover the name of her father, and through that understand the woman that her teenage mother has become. By weaving passages of narrative from the past with the present, Condé surprises us by building to a climax that catches both the reader and Marie-Noelle unexpectedly. It is no surprise that Desirada was awarded the Prix Carbet de la Caraibe in 1998 (presented for the best book by a French Caribbean author). This is story telling at its best. |
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