The year is 1797, and the kingdom of Segu is flourishing, fed by the wealth of its noblemen and the power of its warriors. The people of Segu, the Bambara, are guided by their griots and priests; their lives are ruled by the elements. But even their soothsayers can only hint at the changes to come, for the battle of the soul of Africa has begun. From the east comes a new religion, Islam, and from the West, the slave trade.

Segu follows the life of Dousika Traore, the king's most trusted advisor, and his four sons, whose fates embody the forces tearing at the fabric of the nation....

In this beautifully crafted, Rashomon-like novel, Maryse Conde has written a gripping story imbued with all the nuances and traditions of Caribbean culture. Francis Sancher--a handsome outsider, loved by some and reviled by others--is found dead, face down in the mud on a path outside Riviere au Sel, a small village in Guadeloupe.None of the villagers are particularly surprised, since Sancher, a secretive and melancholy man, had often predicted an unnatural death for himself.As the villagers come to pay their respects they each--either in a speech to the mourners, or in an internal...

The Last of the African Kings follows the wayward fortunes of a noble African family. It begins with the regal Behanzin, an African king who opposed French colonialism and was exiled to distant Martinique. In the course of this brilliant novel, Maryse Conde tells of Behanzin's scattered offspring and their lives in the Caribbean and the United States. A book made up of many characters and countless stories, The Last of the African Kings skillfully intertwines the themes of exile, lost origins, memory, and hope. It is set mainly in the Americas, from the Caribbean to modern-day South Carolina,...

Land of Many Colors is set in the fictional city of Fort Pilote in the French Caribbean. It opens with the deaths of a young liberation activist and his mother in 1984. The narrator, a doctor who handles both of these cases, attempts to reconstruct the history of the family through four generations. The doctor's account illuminates the political and social complexities of race and class distinctions, the legacy of French colonialism that has spawned the movement for independence. Set in Jamaica, Nanna-ya explores the relationships that develop between George, a well-to-do store-owner, his...

This book is an exploration of the life and art of Maryse Conde, who first won international acclaim for Segu, a novel about West African experience and the slave trade. Born in Guadeloupe in 1937, Conde lived in Guinea after it won its independence from France. Later she lived in Ghana and Senegal during turbulent, decisive moments in the histories of these countries. Her writings-novels, plays, essays, stories, and children's books-have led her to an increasingly important role within Africa and throughout the world. Francoise Pfaff met Maryse Conde in 1981, when she first interviewed her....

"Honest, exquisitely measured . . . inspiring in its reminder of the human spirit's capacity to endure."--The New York Times Book Review

" An] astute study of family and place."--Washington Post Book World

In this collection of autobiographical essays, Maryse Conde vividly evokes the relationships and events that gave her childhood meaning: discovering her parents' feelings of alienation; her first crush; a falling out with her best friend; the death of her beloved grandmother; her first encounter with racism.

These gemlike vignettes capture the spirit of Conde's...

Maryse Conde is one of the best-known and most beloved French Caribbean literary voices. The author of more than twenty novels, she was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2015 and has long been recognized as a giant of black feminist literature. While Conde has previously published an autobiography of her childhood, What Is Africa to Me? tells for the first time the story of her early adult years in Africa--years formative not only for her, but also for African colonies appealing for their own independence.

What Is Africa to Me? traces the late 1950s to...