Evelyne Trouillot

Memory at Bay - Caraf Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French Evelyne Trouillot

Marc Notes: Originally published in French as La memoire aux abois (c) Editions Hoebeke, 2010 -- Verso title page.; Includes bibliographical references.; Memory at Bay is a novel structured in monologues that alternate between the bedridden widow of a notorious dictator (in effect, a portrait of Papa Doc Duvalier) and the young emigre who attends to her needs and whose mother was a victim of the dictator's atrocities. Neither one can read the other's thoughts, but their flashbacks and reminiscences provide radically contrasting accounts of the Duvalier regime. Far more than a recap of recent Haitian history, the novel is also a subtle exploration of the power of memory --; Provided by publisher."Brief Description: "Memory at Bay is a novel structured in monologues that alternate between the bedridden widow of a notorious dictator (in effect, a portrait of Papa Doc Duvalier) and the young aemigrae who attends to her needs and whose mother was a victim of the dictator's atrocities. Neither one can read the other's thoughts, but their flashbacks and reminiscences provide radically contrasting accounts of the Duvalier regime. Far more than a recap of recent Haitian history, the novel is also a subtle exploration of the power of memory" --Review Quotes: One of the first things I was told in Haiti is that all families have at least one member in the army, at least one member in the Macoutes, and at least one member killed by the army or the Macoutes. "Memory at Bay" is a distressingly beautiful evocation of this eerie symbiosis between oppressor and victim, by one of the best writers in the Caribbean basin today. As one of Evelyne Trouillot's characters says to another, "My only inheritance from you was your torment."--Madison Smartt BellBiographical Note: Evelyne Trouillot is a versatile author who has published novels, plays, poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction and whose work has been translated into several languages. In addition to the prize-winning "Memory at Bay, " her novels include "The Infamous Rosalie, " which won the Prix de la romanciere francophone du Club Soroptimist de Grenoble. She is a lecturer in French at the State University in Port-au-Prince. Paul Curtis Daw has translated works by Marie Darrieussecq, Delphine Coulin, and Michel Lambert. Jason Herbeck is Associate Professor of French at Boise State University. Publisher Marketing: Winner of the prestigious Prix Carbet--an award won by such distinguished authors as Maryse Conde, Jamaica Kincaid, and Raphael Confiant-- "Memory at Bay" is now available in an English translation that brings to life this powerful novel by one of Haiti's most vital authors, Evelyne Trouillot. Trouillot introduces us to a bedridden widow of a notorious dictator (in effect, a portrait of Papa Doc Duvalier) and the young emigre who attends to her needs but who harbors a secret--the bitter loss she feels for her mother, a victim of the dictator's atrocities. The story that unfolds is a deftly plotted psychological drama in which the two women in turn relive their radically contrasting accounts of the dictator's regime. Partly a retelling of Haiti's nightmarish history under Duvalier, and partly an exploration of the power of memory, Trouillot's novel takes a suspenseful turn when the aide contemplates murdering the old widow. "Memory at Bay" was praised by the Prix Carbet committee for the way it treats the enigmas of destiny and for a pairing of characters whose voices bring the narrative to the edge of the ineffable. CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French