Kim
Rating:
Review
Spanning 40 years, this is Zarite's story, beginning as a slave in French-controlled Saint-Domingue (later named Haiti) belonging to plantation owner Toulouise Valmorain, and ending as a free woman in New Orleans. Zarite, or Tete, as she is commonly called, is sold to Valmorain when she is a child, and is initially tasked with taking care of Valmorain's ill wife, though it is not long before Tete is bearing her master's children, making me not like Valmorain a bit (though by the end of the story I hated him). When a civil war breaks out in Saint-Domingue, Tete, Valmorain and their children flee the island for Cuba, where Valmorain's brother-in-law, and business partner, Sancho Garcia del Solar lives, and they are able to seek refuge until setting sail for New Orleans. There are so many more characters in this book that come to life under Ms. Allende's loving care, such as the mulatto courtesan Violette, her love affair with the French military officer Etienne Relais and their pivotal role in Tete's, and Valmorain's lives. I also enjoyed Sancho's role everywhere he would turn up, and admired Dr. Parmentier's drive, dedication to his craft, and his color-blindness. I know this story is a work of fiction, but the brutality of war and slave ownership, yet the blurred lines between what is proper and humane during the 1700-1800s shocked me at times, as I am compelled to think that reality was very similar to many passages in this book. This is one of the most beautifully written stories I've ever read, and is right up there with the author's previous work The House of the Spirits. Pick a comfy spot for a few days, because this saga is fabulous and worth the time you will spend reading it.
Best Line:
"This demonstrates, Maurice, that decency quickly succumbs before
greed."
Suzanne
Rating:
Review
Zarite, half white and half black, is born into slavery on the island of Saint-Domingue, now known as Haiti. She's right on time to witness the monstrous violence of slavery on the plantations lead to decades more of overwhelming violence in the revolution between black slaves, white landowners, and free mulattos. Zarite serves as a house slave for plantation owner Toulouse Valmorain, a young man born in France who inherited the sugarcane plantation he never wanted from his dying father. Valmorain turns into a typical slave owner, raping Zarite when she's barely a teenager and using her as his concubine for years, even after he marries and has a son with his Spanish bride from Cuba. Dr. Parmentier, a friend of Valmorain's, figures prominently in the story as well, and serves as the devil's advocate regarding Valmorain's endorsement of slavery. Parmentier is even open-minded enough to learn a lot about medicine at the side of the local voodoo priestess, Tante Rose. Zarite is forced to make a very hard choice when the revolution arrives at their doorstep, and miraculously manages to escape to New Orleans, unfortunately still with Valmorain. She doggedly pursues freedom in this new world but fate always brings her back into contact with Valmorain, and as both of their numerous children come of age they throw more than one shocking twist into their plans. Allende's writing is as melodic as ever, although the magic realism in this story, in the form of voodoo, is reduced and not incorporated into the storyline as well as in some of her previous works.
Best Line:
"The life of a Creole monsieur was spent at leisure; work was a vice of Protestants in general and Americans in particular." (pg. 245)
