Prizewinning writer Maryse Condé reimagines Emily Brontë´s passionate novel as a tale of obsessive love between the "African" Razyé and Cathy, the mulatto daughter of the man who takes Razyé in and raises him, but whose treatment goads him into rebellious flight. Retaining the emotional power of the original, Condé shows the Caribbean society in the wake of emancipation.
Prizewinning writer Maryse Conde reimagines Emily Bronte's passionate novel as a tale of obsessive love between the "African" Rayze and Cathy, the mulatto daughter of the man who takes Rayze in and raises him, but whose treatment goads him into rebellious flight. Retaining the emotional power of the original, Conde shows us Caribbean society in the wake of emancipation.
Praise for Windward Heights"Condé is a masterly storyteller who also proves deft at reinterpretting other people´s stories, as she shows here with this energetic reimagining of
Wuthering Heights here set in Cuba and Guadeloupe at the turn of the century."
—The New York Times Book Review
"Condé gives Brontë a cultural context ... a fine and unique accomplishment."
—Washington Post
"Through [Condé´s] transformation of the tragedy in
Wuthering Heights, she creates a narrative that seduces, evokes and makes us think about the kinds of emotions that have moved human beings throughout our existence."
—Chicago Tribune
"Exotic and eloquent... Condé takes Emily Brontë´s cold-climate classic on obsessive love and makes it hot and lush."
—USA Today
“A confident and incisive Caribbeanization of a European master-text by a master novelist of African descent.”
—Village Voice “Condé has given readers an astonishing new way in which to contemplate our ancestral past.”
—Black Issues Book Review “The author weaves in the history of the region along with themes of passionate love, color prejudice, oppression, and social unrest to create an engaging and well-written book that is difficult to put down.”
—Multicultural Review