Esclave!

by Pascale Maret

Le roman narre l'histoire d'une jeune noire enlevée de son continent d'origine, l'Afrique, pour aller travailler en tant qu'esclave en Amérique. Vendue sur un marché du Venezuela puis renommée Ana par ses maîtres, elle cherche a s'acclimater à sa nouvelle vie, mais par jalousie elle est accusée d'une faute qu'elle n'a pas commise. Fouettée et humiliée, elle décide de fuir pour retrouver la liberté...

Esclaves ! a reçu le prix des enfants du livre au festival du livre de Saint-Orens en 2004.

157 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Kami Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this chapter book for 10-11 year olds as part of my research into the acknowledgement of slavery in French novels. It's not a subject often treated by French authors. Typically, it's Caribbean writers in French, from former French colonies, who are most likely to write about slavery and slave trade in their fiction. So that was my point of view as I read. Knowing this subject doesn't show up often, it was good to read this novel for kids with its protagonist who is a child slave. The book does a decent job of conveying the horrors and history of slavery. My one beef--knowing that France was very much implicated in the slave trade despite the dearth of a record of that in French fiction--is that the only Frenchman in this novel set in Venezuela is one of the good guys. He's against slavery and offers mercy and love to the little slave girl. Haiti is referenced at the end of the novel and is essentially described as this utopia where the Blacks have taken power and everyone gets along well now, with next to no indication of the horrors France inflicted there. So it's interesting and problematic that France's role in the horrors of slavery is completely hidden from the French kids reading this book.

[Théry Natifa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first novel, without illustrations, I read as a child. It was gifted by my older sister. It's been around 15 years and I still haven't forgotten the huge impact it had on my love for reading and need to understand and hear people's stories. 5/5

[The man on the lion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce livre aura réussi à m’arracher une larme à plusieurs reprises. Il ne raconte rien de nouveau comparè aux milliers d’autres livres sur le thème mais il réussi à tte quand même particulièrement touchant du moins pour ma part.

[Ln Kio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une histoire prenante construite autour du personnage de Maïmouna, fille de chef africain envoyée en esclavage au Venezuela. Lu d'une traite dans une chaise longue au soleil, savourons la chance qu'on a par rapport à ceux qui traversent ou ont traversé des périodes tumultueuses dans des pays agités...