Désirada (French Edition) - Softcover

Maryse Collectif

Softcover

ISBN 10: 2266086979 ISBN 13: 9782266086974

Publisher: POCKET, 1998

Synopsis

A powerfully redemptive novel about one woman's search for herself--from Guadeloupe to France to the United States

Ranelise is a cook in the small village of La Pointe in Guadeloupe where she rescues a teenage girl from suicide by drowning. The girl, Reynalda Titane, lives at the local jeweler's grand house where her mother, Nina, is a maid. Reynalda is pregnant and in a state of despair. Ranelise cares for her and the child, christened Marie-Noelle, but Reynalda soon flees to France, intent upon getting the education to allow her to rise above her mother's fate.

Desirada is the story of Marie-Noelle and her quest to understand the mother who abandoned her, and discover the identity of her father, despite the opposing stories from her mother and her grandmother. It is also the story of generations of island women and the pursuit of a meaningful life despite a tainted personal history.

Desirada was awarded the prestigious Prix Carbet de la Caraibe in 1998 given for the best book by a Caribbean author. It is Ms. Conde's twelfth novel.

About this title

About the Author:

Maryse Condé is Chair of the Center for French and Francophone Studies at Columbia University. She has been the recipient of La Grand Prix Literaire de la Femme and the Prix de L'Academie Francaise as well as the Prix Yourcenar and the Prix Carbet de la Caraibe, and also a Guggenheim fellowship. She lives in New York with her husband Richard Philcox, who is the translator of her work.

Language Notes:

Text: French

About this edition

• Publisher: POCKET
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 2266086979
• ISBN 13: 9782266086974
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 280