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Island Beneath the Sea
Born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue, Zarité; known as Teté; is the daughter of an African mother she never knew and one of the white sailors who brought her into bondage. Though her childhood is one of brutality and fear, Teté finds solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and in the voodoo loas she discovers through her fellow slaves.
When twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770, it's with powdered wigs in his baggage and dreams of financial success in his mind. But running his father's plantation, Saint Lazare, is neither glamorous nor easy. It will be eight years before he brings home a bride; but marriage, too, proves more difficult than he imagined. And Valmorain remains dependent on the services of his teenaged slave.
Spanning four decades, Island Beneath the Sea is the moving story of the intertwined lives of Teté and Valmorain, and of one woman's determination to find love amid loss, to offer humanity though her own has been battered, and to forge her own identity in the cruelest of circumstances.
457 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 2009
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About the author
Isabel Allende
272 books45k followersIsabel Allende Llona is a Chilean-American novelist. Allende, who writes in the "magic realism" tradition, is considered one of the first successful women novelists in Latin America. She has written novels based in part on her own experiences, often focusing on the experiences of women, weaving myth and realism together. She has lectured and done extensive book tours and has taught literature at several US colleges. She currently resides in California with her husband. Allende adopted U.S. citizenship in 2003.
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December 20, 2020
The Real Code Noir
My only direct knowledge of Haiti comes from my marginal involvement in the attempted Haitian coup of 1970 against ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier. The failed survivors took to sea in several small ships, ran out of fuel, and asked for humanitarian assistance from the Coast Guard. My ship was diverted from training in Guantanamo Bay and ordered to tow the rebel vessels to Roosevelt Roads, a naval base on Puerto Rico.
I, as an expendable junior officer, was assigned to take command of the larger of the Haitian ships, few of whose crew spoke English, and all of whom I suspected, irrationally, of being Tonton Macoutes, who would rather kill and eat me than allow themselves to be interned by the U.S. Navy.
My first task was to inspect the ship to ensure we had collected all the small arms. Because the generators were out of action, there were no lights; so I had to creep around the the lower deck compartments with a flashlight. Opening the door to the main hold I caught a human shape about 30 feet in front of me, arms outstretched as if crucified, legs dangling limp, with a rope around its neck. Beating a quick retreat back through the watertight door, I took a few deep breaths before re-entering the compartment.
Instead of a bloated face and tortured body, what I found was an old-fashioned deep-diving suit, with its brass helmet, hanging stiffly on its assigned hook. Relief was overcome by feelings of stupidity and embarrassment lest any of the Haitians had seen me. But the practical lesson was also clear: voodoo works - especially in the dark, and particularly when you’re out of your depth. So I do have a sense of recognition reading Isabel Allende’s tale of oppression and voodoo revenge.
Haitian voodoo fascinates me in its functionality. It is an underground culture that demonstrates how powerful the human drive to create cultural tradition actually is when people are ripped from their familiar societies. And it scares hell out of white people - for approximately the same reason, namely it represents a humanity that can’t be extinguished by power.
This is worrisome to those in charge for precisely the reasons given in Allende’s book, which are identical to those generating my fear on the Haitian ship. It’s not just a fear of loss of control, as in the Haitian slave rebellion of the early 19th century for example. It is also the more fundamental dread that one is living in an alternative reality, an unknown darkness, which might exert itself at any moment. In other words, that one is actually captive in an alien spiritual as well as physical universe.
Voodoo syncretism, its assimilation of fragments of the various cultures it comes in contact with (much like the English language in this magpie-like tendency, it occurs to me), is its strength. It is sufficiently familiar to white people because it uses some Christian symbols like the cross and the Virgin Mary. But it is simultaneously alien and threatening because it treats these symbols as what they are - enigmatic signs - and connects them with other symbols and rituals, not as dogmatic assertions or fixed creeds but as further ‘floating’ signs.
This is not the European way. It may not be the African way either. But it does create a coherent society with its own customs, language and social structure that are impervious to the culture around it. It is a product of intellectual ingenuity, artistic creativity, and spite.
Voodoo itself, therefore, is a continuous rebellion - not just against racial oppression but also against any attempt to fix the character of either human beings or human society. It undermines the established, the official, the approved, and the powerful (and thus the Code Noir, the laws of slavery). As such it is quite rightly feared. It is simultaneously there and not there, entirely real and entirely mythical, solid and ephemeral. Or a hanged man and a diving suit.
My only direct knowledge of Haiti comes from my marginal involvement in the attempted Haitian coup of 1970 against ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier. The failed survivors took to sea in several small ships, ran out of fuel, and asked for humanitarian assistance from the Coast Guard. My ship was diverted from training in Guantanamo Bay and ordered to tow the rebel vessels to Roosevelt Roads, a naval base on Puerto Rico.
I, as an expendable junior officer, was assigned to take command of the larger of the Haitian ships, few of whose crew spoke English, and all of whom I suspected, irrationally, of being Tonton Macoutes, who would rather kill and eat me than allow themselves to be interned by the U.S. Navy.
My first task was to inspect the ship to ensure we had collected all the small arms. Because the generators were out of action, there were no lights; so I had to creep around the the lower deck compartments with a flashlight. Opening the door to the main hold I caught a human shape about 30 feet in front of me, arms outstretched as if crucified, legs dangling limp, with a rope around its neck. Beating a quick retreat back through the watertight door, I took a few deep breaths before re-entering the compartment.
Instead of a bloated face and tortured body, what I found was an old-fashioned deep-diving suit, with its brass helmet, hanging stiffly on its assigned hook. Relief was overcome by feelings of stupidity and embarrassment lest any of the Haitians had seen me. But the practical lesson was also clear: voodoo works - especially in the dark, and particularly when you’re out of your depth. So I do have a sense of recognition reading Isabel Allende’s tale of oppression and voodoo revenge.
Haitian voodoo fascinates me in its functionality. It is an underground culture that demonstrates how powerful the human drive to create cultural tradition actually is when people are ripped from their familiar societies. And it scares hell out of white people - for approximately the same reason, namely it represents a humanity that can’t be extinguished by power.
This is worrisome to those in charge for precisely the reasons given in Allende’s book, which are identical to those generating my fear on the Haitian ship. It’s not just a fear of loss of control, as in the Haitian slave rebellion of the early 19th century for example. It is also the more fundamental dread that one is living in an alternative reality, an unknown darkness, which might exert itself at any moment. In other words, that one is actually captive in an alien spiritual as well as physical universe.
Voodoo syncretism, its assimilation of fragments of the various cultures it comes in contact with (much like the English language in this magpie-like tendency, it occurs to me), is its strength. It is sufficiently familiar to white people because it uses some Christian symbols like the cross and the Virgin Mary. But it is simultaneously alien and threatening because it treats these symbols as what they are - enigmatic signs - and connects them with other symbols and rituals, not as dogmatic assertions or fixed creeds but as further ‘floating’ signs.
This is not the European way. It may not be the African way either. But it does create a coherent society with its own customs, language and social structure that are impervious to the culture around it. It is a product of intellectual ingenuity, artistic creativity, and spite.
Voodoo itself, therefore, is a continuous rebellion - not just against racial oppression but also against any attempt to fix the character of either human beings or human society. It undermines the established, the official, the approved, and the powerful (and thus the Code Noir, the laws of slavery). As such it is quite rightly feared. It is simultaneously there and not there, entirely real and entirely mythical, solid and ephemeral. Or a hanged man and a diving suit.
October 9, 2020
في هذه الجزيرة المسحورة تحت البحر
تتعانق أرواحٌ سمراء
راقصين فيها إلى الأبد
على دقات طبول لا مرئية
فهم يحملون الإيقاعات في أرواحهم
~~**~~
العالم يهتز
الايقاع يولد في الجزيرة تحت البحر
يهز الأرض
يخترقني كوميض برق ويمضي إلى السماء
حاملًا أحزاني كي يمضغها بابا بوندي ويبتلعها
ويخلقني نظيفة من الهموم وسعيدة
الطبول تهزم الخوف
والطبول هي إرث أمي
إنها قوة غينيا التي في دمي
الطبول مقدسة، من خلالها تتكلم اللوات
~~**~~
ارقصي يا زاريتيه
لأن العبد الذي يرقص عبد حر
طالما هو يرقص
~~**~~
عندي قلقٌ في روحي وفي خلاياي من أمدٍ بعيد
تاريخ العبودية و ما عانته الشعوب السمراء من ذل مهين
هو من الموضوعات الشائكة بالنسبة لي
إحساس قوي يتملكني بالعار والفضيحة
أمام ما كان يمارسه أبناء الأرض البيض ضد كل ما هو ملوّن
ومع إيزابيل الليندي المهتمة بحقوق الإنسان
وبالإيروسية ، وبالإلاهات القديمات
تصبح الرواية متفردة برائحتها الشذيّة
؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
بطلتنا زاريتيه هي عبدة خلاسية
أي ذات دماء مختلطة من الأبيض والأسود
حاولت أمها قتلها حين ولدتها كي تجنبها ذل العبودية
ولكن تم إنقاذها وبيعها لتستقر أخيراً بعد 9 سنوات عند بطل الرواية فالموران
وهو واحدٌ من أهم مُلاك الأراضي ومزارع القصب والبن في مستعمرة هاييتي
تمرُّ زاريتيه بكثيرٍ من المحن على مدار الرواية
بالعبودية ،وبالاغتصاب ، وبالجلد
وبالضرب ، وبالحرمان من أبنائها
وعن طريقها تعطينا إيزابيل فكرة مفصلّة عمّا كانت تمر به الجزيرة مروراً بثورة العبيد
فتبدأ في سان دوماغ أو هاييتي حالياً
ثم بعد انتفاضة العبيد تأخذنا إلى نيو أورليانز وذلك في أثناء نهاية القرن 17 وبدايات القرن 18 حين قامت الثورة الفرنسية
كما تعطينا فكرة مفصلة كذلك عن ديانة الفودو وطقوسها المجنونة المبهجة
؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
تيتي ذكية ، وبارعة في الرقص ، وعاشقة متوهجة ، وامرأة جميلة
إنما ما يلفت النظر إليها حقّاً هي أمومتها المتأصّلة في أعماقها
فهي مرة بعد مرة تثبت شجاعتها ، وإيثارها أطفالها ، وطفل سيدها الذي تعتبره ابنها كذلك
فتدافع عنهم بشراسة ، وتغدق عليهم حناناً عظيماً
و تيتي لم تكن تفكّر في الحرية أبداً
كانت مستسلمة لمصيرها كألوفٍ غيرها
ولكن وعلى مدار أحداث الرواية تنفض خوفها شيئاً فشيئاً
وتتجرأ أخيراً على الاحتفال بحريتها
و مقابلة عجرفة فالموران بهدوءٍ
-لا أستطيع ذلك يا مسيو-
لتتركه محتضراً ،وتترك حقدها المتراكم سنوات وراءها
لتعيش حياتها كامرأة حرة لا تخاف من حريتها
ليس بعد الآن
؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
وفي خلال 40 عاماً هي عمر أحداث الرواية نرى تحولات الأبناء والآباء ،وحيواتهم الخاصة
وجنونهم ، وشغفهم ، والحب المحرم الذي يجمع بين أخ وأخته ، والذي ينتهي نهاية أليمة وسعيدة في آن
في خضّم هذا الجنون نعلم الكثير عن أحوال العبيد تلك الفترة المؤلمة
واللاإنسانية المقززة التي يتمتع بها الرجل الأبيض
والفظائع التي كانت ترتكب مع الرجال والنساء والأطفال بلا رحمة
مثل دفن السود في أكوام من الحشرات كالنمل الأحمر
وغليهم في قدور من دبس السكر
وفي هذا المقطع من الرواية
نرى شاباً أسود من الثوار عانى من ويلات التعجرف الأبيض
وكيف رأى هو البيض لأول مرة
؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
كانت هجمة العبيد بعد ذلك شرسة ،، لا إنسانية
فقد تحوّل الكثير منهم بفعل الذل والرقّ والوحشية وتراكم الأحقاد المتوارث إلى كائنات أعمتها القسوة
وغادرتها الرحمة مع كل ضربة سوط ، وكل بتر عضو ،ومع كل اغتصابٍ جديد لفتاة
فراح العبيد يمزقون ويحرقون ويقتلون ببشاعة ،لا فرق في ضحاياهم بين رجل وامرأة وطفل
==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-
رسوم توضيحية لثورة العبيد في هاييتي
==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-
ومن هنا ترى
كيف يمكن للإنسان أن يتحوّل من مظلومٍ إلى ظالم
وكيف بانتهاكنا لحقوق الأخرين نخلق وحوشاً ضارية
فترى العبث الكوني يتردد صداه بين صفحات الرواية
؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
بدأ تاريخها عام 1492 هايتي
مع كريستوفر كولومبوس
وتحولت وقتهاإلى مستعمرة إسبانية
تأثير الثورة الفرنسية عام 1789 كان عظيماً على هذه المستعمرة
فكان المستوطنون الفرنسيون يناقشون كيفية القوانين الثورية الجديدة وهل ستطبق على سانت دومانغ؟
لتقوم ثورة العبيد في المستعمرة الفرنسية في هاييتي في غضون ذلك
فالثورة الفرنسية لم تعترف بعد بحقوق الملون ، ولا بحقوق المرأة
كانت الهجمات شرسة من السود ، والردود أشرس من البيض
فما بين حرق ، وشنق ،و تعذيب ،وتدمير مر 14 عاماً
وأخيرا تفوز هاييتي عام1804
وإن لم تعترف فرنسا باستقلال هاييتي حتى عام 1825
ولم تعترف بها الولايات المتحدة دبلوماسياً حتى عام 1862
كما أن هايتي ساعدت على نشاط حركات الاستقلال للعديد من البلدان في أمريكا اللاتينية
وتصبح حرة ،، حرة ،،حرة
ومن أقدم الجمهوريات السوداء في العالم
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صورة للعبيد في حقول القصب
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وقعتُ في غرام شخصيتي زاريتيه و تانت روز
وشخصيتي الأب أنطوان ،و موريس كذلك
فموريس يشبهني في كثيرٍ من الصفات
وكان غالباً في الرواية بعباراته ،و بأفعاله يتحدّث على لساني ، ويحاكي بعض قراراتي في الحياة
كانت الرواية تجربة مهمّة في تصوير بشاعة ووحشية الرجل الأبيض
و شهادة للتاريخ ممزوجة بدراما ممتعة
وفكرة نبيلة متجسدة في قداسة امرأة غير عادية
==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-
أنقل لكم من الرواية هذه المقتطفات التي توضح عقلية الرجل الأبيض المثيرة للشفقة
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؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
عن أبطال ثورة العبيد
؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
فرانسوا ماكندال
==-==-==-==-==-==-
كان عبداً من هاييتي ،وأصبح رمزاً من رموز الثورة
أشعل روح التمرد ، وأشعل النيران في مزارع الملاّك حتى تم إعدامه
وإن كان العبيد قد رأوه يتحول ناموسة عند إعدامه
واستمراره في الحياة ليلهب حماس الثورة
ولم يرَ الجسد المحروق سوى البيض
==-==-==-==-==-==-
دوتي بوكمان أو رجل الكتاب
==-==-==-==-==-==-
من أعظم قادة ثورة العبيد
وتم إطلاق لقب صاحب الكتاب
book man
عليه مما أوحى للبعض بأنه مسلم
حيث كلمة الكتاب كانت دلالة على القرآن حينها
وذلك برغم اعتناقه ديانة الفودو في أغلب الروايات عنه
قتله الفرنسيون عام 1971
وتم غرس رأسه على رمح كا هي عادتهم لإرهاب الثوار والسخرية منهم
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صورة لــ
Dutty Boukman
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؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
مقطتفات عن الثورة ونضال الملونيين
من أحاديث كتابنا العرب
؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
أنيس منصور
==-==-==-==-==
وجزيرة هايتي - التي هي نصف جزيرة - كان اسمها سان دومنجو، أما النصف الآخر فهو دولة الدومنيكان.. وكانت مستعمرة فرنسية. وكان الاستعمار بمعناه الشنيع. فصاحب الإقطاع يملك الأرض ومن عليها من العبيد. وعدد العبيد في هذه الجزيرة في القرن الثامن عشر خمسة أمثال سكانها من البيض. وكان البيض هم الإقطاعيون وهم الذين يعذبون السود بالضرب والسجن والتجويع. وكانت الجزيرة غنية بالبن والسكّر والدخان وغيرها. وصارت فرنسا غنية بسبب هذه الجزيرة التي تبيع كل شيء لفرنسا ولا تشتري إلا من فرنسا..
ولما قامت الثورة الفرنسية سنة 1789 تنادي بالحرية والمساواة والعدل والأخوة كان ذلك زلزالا لكل الشعوب التي تتطلع إلى تحطيم أغلالها وتطفو على سطح الدنيا الحرة..
وإذا كانت هايتي ستدخل التاريخ كواحدة من ضحايا الزلازل. فمن المؤكد أنها سوف تدخل التاريخ من أبواب عديدة. إنها صاحبة أعظم وأنجح ثورة للعبيد في التاريخ.. فما هي إلا سنوات من الغضب وإحراق البيوت والمزارع وقتل البيض بالسموم التي برعوا فيها، حتى نالت استقلالها سنة 1804. وكان استقلال الجزيرة شرارة أشعلت الغضب في أماكن كثيرة من أميركا اللاتينية. وحاولت فرنسا أن تسترد شيئا من ماضيها الذهبي - هم وحدهم الذين كانوا يملكون الذهب. ولكنها لم تستطع فقد وقف العبيد لأنهم تمرسوا على الغضب والسخط والتربص بالإقطاع الفرنسي الذي هو تكذيب رسمي لكل مبادئ الثورة الفرنسية.
؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
إدوارد سعيد
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رغم مرور عقود وعقود على هذه المذابح
فإن الروايات والأفلام الغربية ظلت تغضّ النظر عما حدث
وتنطلق في معالجاتها من نظرة استعلائية مغلفة بحس ديني كاذب
يصف الهندي الأحمر/الزنجي/الآخر بالوحشية، والوثنية، والتخلف
؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
تعقيب
==-==-==-==-==
في وطننا العربي قامت ثورة الزنج عام 71 هــ
في العراق خلال العهد الأموي
كانت قد أصبحت حياة الزنوج شديدة السوء، وشعروا بظلم ملاّكهم
فقامت ثورة الزنج بزعامة زنجي منهم يدعي رباح و يلقب بــ شيرزاد
فأخمد ثورتهم خالد بن عبد الله القسري البجلي، القائد الأموي
ثم ثار الزنوج سنة 76هـ للمرة الثانية علي الدولة الأموية
فقام الحجاج الثقفي هذه المرة بقمع الثورة
وفي العهد العباسي
بدأت ثورة الزنج في البحرين سنة 249هـ
وإن كانت غير قائمة على الملونيين وحدهم
وظلت تقاوم الجيوش العباسية حتى 270 هـ
قائد هذه الثورة هو حفيد علي بن أبي طالب وإسمه علي أيضاً
وكان شاعراً، وعالماً، يمارس في سامراء تعليم الخط والنحو والنجوم
وكان واحداً من المقربين الى الخليفة المنتصر بالله
ولما قتل الأتراك الخليفة المنتصر بالسم، ومارسوا السجن والنفي والاعتقال والاضطهاد لحاشيته
كان علي بن محمد ضمن المعتقلين
بعده قام تمرّد وتم إطلاق سراح السجناء
فغادر إلى البحرين و دعا الى الثورة ضد الدولة العباسية الواقعة تحت سيطرة الجند الأتراك
ويصف الطبري سلطة علي بن محمد في هذا المحيط العربي، فيقول
لقد أحله أهل البحرين من أنفسهم محل النبي حتى جبى له الخراج هناك، ونفذ حكمه بينهم، وقاتلوا أسباب السلطان بسببه
وقد أعلن عليٌ أهدافه وهي
تحرير الرقيق من العبودية،وتحويلهم الى سادة لأنفسهم
وإعطاء العبيد حق امتلاك الأموال والضياع، بل ومنّاهم بامتلاك واسترقاق سادتهم
وضمان المساواة التامة لهم في ثورته ودولته
بعد ذلك تأسست دولة انفصالية يحكمها الزنج وسلطانهم علي بن محمد
وإن قام الزنج وقتها بفظاعات تحاكي ما قام به ملونيين هاييتي
وفي النهاية أخمد العباسيون الثورة
وهذا كتابٌ مفصّل عن ثورة الزنج لمزيد من الإطلاع
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69...
August 15, 2025
Allende is a master at epic stories. This one takes us from the island of St-Domingue (Haiti)to Cuba to Louisiana in the 1770’s. It crosses 2 generations and 4 decades.
We meet an African slave, Tete, born to an African mother who killed herself. Tete is purchased to work as a house slave on a sugar cane plantation at the young age of 11. A slave uprising on the island takes place against the colonists to fight for their emancipation.
Allende captures the Haitian history- the slaves and their backstory of how they were captured in Africa and sent to the island by the whites. Their culture and black magic beliefs that give these people hope. When the slaves revolt, Tete saves her master and her daughter and they make their way to Louisiana where slavery is alive and well.
This is a devastating story of the brutality of slavery. The losses suffered; the barbaric and inhumane treatment suffered at the hands of their masters. But it’s also the strength, courage and humanity that enabled these people to rise up and live.
4.5⭐️
We meet an African slave, Tete, born to an African mother who killed herself. Tete is purchased to work as a house slave on a sugar cane plantation at the young age of 11. A slave uprising on the island takes place against the colonists to fight for their emancipation.
Allende captures the Haitian history- the slaves and their backstory of how they were captured in Africa and sent to the island by the whites. Their culture and black magic beliefs that give these people hope. When the slaves revolt, Tete saves her master and her daughter and they make their way to Louisiana where slavery is alive and well.
This is a devastating story of the brutality of slavery. The losses suffered; the barbaric and inhumane treatment suffered at the hands of their masters. But it’s also the strength, courage and humanity that enabled these people to rise up and live.
4.5⭐️
Currently reading
November 14, 2023I personally saved this book for my last review of 2019. I love the author and I totally loved this book. It took me two years to finish this book. Sometimes you read a book and then sometimes you read a story that is near and dear to your heart and this was the story for me. This story is about so much more than power and slavery. It's about the pain, sorrow, dedication and determination of a young black girl to a strong black woman. This book touched my heart and my soul. I didn't want it to end. The author has a way of making her words turn into magic. The characters are so real and the story is so believable. To all of my Tete's out there keep your head up and walk as the Queen that you are❣
To the author, (Isabel Allende) thank you for writing this story. I have read your books in the past and you did not disappoint!!
To my Goodreads friends Happy New Year to you. Enjoy your reading in 2020!!
To the author, (Isabel Allende) thank you for writing this story. I have read your books in the past and you did not disappoint!!
To my Goodreads friends Happy New Year to you. Enjoy your reading in 2020!!
August 26, 2017
This is $1.99 kindle special again today
- I still own this book - loved it - packed filled with drama ...
I'm reading Isabel Allende's new book right now - "In The Mist of Winter", not released yet -- and it's TERRIFIC...
save your pennies for it! Or get your name on the waitlist at the library.
Older ... tiny comment:
I just bought this book yesterday. It looks fantastic! I LOVE Isabel Allende. I like her fiction and non-fiction books.
I'm also so excited....she will be speaking at a darling book store in Mt. View tonight. I hope I get a front row seat!
elyse
This book is EXCELLENT!!! The best book I have read all year!!!
- I still own this book - loved it - packed filled with drama ...
I'm reading Isabel Allende's new book right now - "In The Mist of Winter", not released yet -- and it's TERRIFIC...
save your pennies for it! Or get your name on the waitlist at the library.
Older ... tiny comment:
I just bought this book yesterday. It looks fantastic! I LOVE Isabel Allende. I like her fiction and non-fiction books.
I'm also so excited....she will be speaking at a darling book store in Mt. View tonight. I hope I get a front row seat!
elyse
This book is EXCELLENT!!! The best book I have read all year!!!
May 20, 2010
Take the rich historical settings of Haiti and New Orleans. Toss in voodoo ceremonies, zombies, bloody slave uprisings, forbidden loves, pirates, spies, fortune-tellers, hurricanes, epidemics, and a pinch of scandal. Place all of this is Isabel Allende's gifted hands, and what's not to love?
This book took some time and concentration to get through, but when I got to the end I found myself wanting more, more, more. I wanted to know what happens to Tete and Zacharie and Maurice and their families as the years pass, and I wanted to see a certain haughty bitch get her comeuppance. But a good storyteller knows when to stop, and this is the best Allende novel I've read so far. It will be on my Best of 2010 list, no question.
A special thank you to Margaret Sayers Peden for making Ms. Allende's novels available to us in English. Good translation work deserves more recognition.
This book took some time and concentration to get through, but when I got to the end I found myself wanting more, more, more. I wanted to know what happens to Tete and Zacharie and Maurice and their families as the years pass, and I wanted to see a certain haughty bitch get her comeuppance. But a good storyteller knows when to stop, and this is the best Allende novel I've read so far. It will be on my Best of 2010 list, no question.
A special thank you to Margaret Sayers Peden for making Ms. Allende's novels available to us in English. Good translation work deserves more recognition.
June 20, 2025
4.75?
Definitely exceeded my expectations! A really submersible historical fiction x
Definitely exceeded my expectations! A really submersible historical fiction x
December 31, 2024
Why I chose to listen to this audiobook:
1 as a fan of Isabel Allende's writing, I purchased a hardcopy at a secondhand store and borrowed the audio version via Hoopla; and,
2. December 2024 is my self-appointed "Island Titles" Month!
Praises:
1. a well-told epic tale about Frenchman Toulouse Valmorain and his slave girl, Zarite (Tete) as we follow them making their escape as refugees from the slave rebellions of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) to the island of Cuba and eventually on to New Orleans, all the while the reader being privy to the complexities of various relationships due to blood ties;
2. Allende paints a masterful canvas of intriguing characters that I felt great empathy and/or disdain for their personalities and their actions. My personal favorites were: Violette Boisier; Tante Rose; and Pere Antoine, all who added such a richness to the story;
3. Allende's vivid descriptiveness of the various settings made me visualize them in great detail, as if I were there; and,
4. narrator S. Epatha Merkerson relates this story very well.
Niggle:
Although I appreciate Allende's extensive research, I find that a lot of background information is imparted as facts, and even though it is related to the story as a whole, it occasionally comes across as a history lesson.
Overall Thoughts:
This is the second book I've read in as many months about the slave rebellions in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), something I was ignorant about previously. (The book that I read in October 2024 is titled Apricots: Murder and Mystery in Saint Domingue by Sally Christie.)
Allende's book details much more of the historical background of events happening across the Atlantic which greatly affected people in Haiti and eventually New Orleans.
Once again, Allende succeeded in educating and entertaining me!
1 as a fan of Isabel Allende's writing, I purchased a hardcopy at a secondhand store and borrowed the audio version via Hoopla; and,
2. December 2024 is my self-appointed "Island Titles" Month!
Praises:
1. a well-told epic tale about Frenchman Toulouse Valmorain and his slave girl, Zarite (Tete) as we follow them making their escape as refugees from the slave rebellions of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) to the island of Cuba and eventually on to New Orleans, all the while the reader being privy to the complexities of various relationships due to blood ties;
2. Allende paints a masterful canvas of intriguing characters that I felt great empathy and/or disdain for their personalities and their actions. My personal favorites were: Violette Boisier; Tante Rose; and Pere Antoine, all who added such a richness to the story;
3. Allende's vivid descriptiveness of the various settings made me visualize them in great detail, as if I were there; and,
4. narrator S. Epatha Merkerson relates this story very well.
Niggle:
Although I appreciate Allende's extensive research, I find that a lot of background information is imparted as facts, and even though it is related to the story as a whole, it occasionally comes across as a history lesson.
Overall Thoughts:
This is the second book I've read in as many months about the slave rebellions in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), something I was ignorant about previously. (The book that I read in October 2024 is titled Apricots: Murder and Mystery in Saint Domingue by Sally Christie.)
Allende's book details much more of the historical background of events happening across the Atlantic which greatly affected people in Haiti and eventually New Orleans.
Once again, Allende succeeded in educating and entertaining me!
September 14, 2010
The flyleaf review on this book promised that it was written with all kinds of "native wit and brio." sic. Well, I fear this surfeit of wit and brio was somehow waylaid between press and the bookstand, because I'm halfway through, and now hoping I can find the grim stamina to just hang on and finish this book that somehow manages to feel damp and depressing, even in the cheeriest of chapters.
Allende uses language beautifully. She paints vivid word portraits of places and times I've never been to. Unfortunately, in this book, those portraits are all dark and grim, and echoing with suffering. Plus everything smells bad, if the narrative is to be believed. I'm not a fan of fluffy feel-good literature ALL the time, but jeepers, could we have some BALANCE? If you're going to write nearly 500 pages on the Revolution in Haiti that sprang out of the French Revolution, a spark or two of hope and maybe even happiness might not be amiss in keeping the audience's attention.
Plodding onward, in the interest of finishing what I started. Whether this ever moves from my "currently reading" shelf to my "read" shelf remains to be seen.
Edited to add: I finished it. The last 1/4 of the book was better than anything that came before, and since it redeemed itself I'm bumping it up a star. Still nothing I'd recommend though. It was historically informative, but so dark and... and... CLAMMY feeling that I was left feeling as though I needed to scrape it off my skin. And I'm not a literature professor, so I'm allowed to feel repugnance for books like this. So there.
Allende uses language beautifully. She paints vivid word portraits of places and times I've never been to. Unfortunately, in this book, those portraits are all dark and grim, and echoing with suffering. Plus everything smells bad, if the narrative is to be believed. I'm not a fan of fluffy feel-good literature ALL the time, but jeepers, could we have some BALANCE? If you're going to write nearly 500 pages on the Revolution in Haiti that sprang out of the French Revolution, a spark or two of hope and maybe even happiness might not be amiss in keeping the audience's attention.
Plodding onward, in the interest of finishing what I started. Whether this ever moves from my "currently reading" shelf to my "read" shelf remains to be seen.
Edited to add: I finished it. The last 1/4 of the book was better than anything that came before, and since it redeemed itself I'm bumping it up a star. Still nothing I'd recommend though. It was historically informative, but so dark and... and... CLAMMY feeling that I was left feeling as though I needed to scrape it off my skin. And I'm not a literature professor, so I'm allowed to feel repugnance for books like this. So there.
October 12, 2024
This book is everything I think of when I think of Isabelle Allende. It’s rich in detail, epic through time, quirky in character. I can smell and taste and hear everything she writes about. The topics and themes are hard to talk about, but they are easier to understand through her writing. I haven’t loved every of her books, but she remains one of my go-to writers, I loved this one from the first word through the last.
November 21, 2017
رواية تُقرأ بتمعن و تلذذ مثل قطع الشكولاتة عندما تُترك لتذوب على اللسان. من أفضل ما كتبت ايزابيل، ملحمة من عيار بيت الأرواح. و مش لاقية وصف تاني أقوله عليها.
January 23, 2015
يمكن اعتبار هذه الرواية التي كتبتها الروائية التشيلية إيزابيل الليندي بوحي من التاريخ الاستعماري لجزيرة هاييتي، إحدى أبلغ الشهادات ضد الممارسات الاستعمارية الوحشية إدانة وتأثيراً. ومن الدّال أن الليندي تنذر رواية كاملة وطويلة لصياغة هذه الشهادة وبلورتها في شكلٍ يكسبها قوة دامغة، ويحولها إلى ما يشبه اللعنة الأبدية لأوروبا وتعاملها مع الإنسان ــ غير الأبيض ــ لا في بلدٍ محدد وواحد، مثل هاييتي، بل في كل ما طالته أياديها من بُلدانٍ احتلتها / استعمرتها.
كان هاييتي هو الاسم الذي يطلقه السكان الأصليون على جزيرتهم، قبل أن يحول الغزاة اسمها إلى «إسبانيولا»، ويبيدوا سكانها عن بكرة أبيهم. فخلال 50 سنة لم يبقَ فرد واحد من السكان الأصليين حياً، ولو كعيّنة: جميعهم ماتوا ضحية العبودية، والأمراض الأوروبية، والانتحار. ومن تبقى منهم قتله الغزاة بطريقة وحشية تسمّى «الاستكلاب»، أي قتل الناس العزل بإطلاق الكلاب عليهم. وعندما نفد مخزون الغزاة من السكان الأصليين، استوردوا عبيداً مخطوفين من إفريقيا ليقوموا بما كان يقوم به سكان الجزيرة المبادون.
ومن أهوال العبودية هذه، تطل بطلة الرواية -وتدعى- زاريتيه "أو تيتي"، باعتها وهي في التاسعة من عمرها عاهرة تدعى فيوليت للإقطاعي -والذي سيتحول إلى عشيقها- تولوز فالموران، مالك إحدى أكبر مزارع قصب السكر في سان دومانغ.
وعلى امتداد الرواية تنقضي أربعون سنة من حياة زاريتيه، تكشف خلالها معاناة وعذابات العبيد في الجزيرة في القرن الثامن عشر، وظروف حياتها -وحياتهم- ونضالها من أجل الحصول على الحرية
الرواية تستحق خمس نجمات -وربما أكثر- بجدارة
كان هاييتي هو الاسم الذي يطلقه السكان الأصليون على جزيرتهم، قبل أن يحول الغزاة اسمها إلى «إسبانيولا»، ويبيدوا سكانها عن بكرة أبيهم. فخلال 50 سنة لم يبقَ فرد واحد من السكان الأصليين حياً، ولو كعيّنة: جميعهم ماتوا ضحية العبودية، والأمراض الأوروبية، والانتحار. ومن تبقى منهم قتله الغزاة بطريقة وحشية تسمّى «الاستكلاب»، أي قتل الناس العزل بإطلاق الكلاب عليهم. وعندما نفد مخزون الغزاة من السكان الأصليين، استوردوا عبيداً مخطوفين من إفريقيا ليقوموا بما كان يقوم به سكان الجزيرة المبادون.
ومن أهوال العبودية هذه، تطل بطلة الرواية -وتدعى- زاريتيه "أو تيتي"، باعتها وهي في التاسعة من عمرها عاهرة تدعى فيوليت للإقطاعي -والذي سيتحول إلى عشيقها- تولوز فالموران، مالك إحدى أكبر مزارع قصب السكر في سان دومانغ.
وعلى امتداد الرواية تنقضي أربعون سنة من حياة زاريتيه، تكشف خلالها معاناة وعذابات العبيد في الجزيرة في القرن الثامن عشر، وظروف حياتها -وحياتهم- ونضالها من أجل الحصول على الحرية
الرواية تستحق خمس نجمات -وربما أكثر- بجدارة
February 8, 2015
Extraordinary book about race, slavery, Haiti and New Orleans, as well as what it means to be family, by blood, by fate and by choice. It begins in 18th century Haiti (prior to when it was called Haiti) and ends in New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase. In the first part of the book, it chronicles the slave revolts that led to the creation of Haiti as the first independent black ("negro") nation. In the second part, it keeps Haiti in the background while following the main characters in New Orleans as it changes hands from French to Spanish to French again and finally to being under U.S. rule.
This book is one of the most fascinating pieces of historical fiction I've read--and since it's my favorite genre, that's significant.
I "read" this book as an Audible.com audio book and found it to be very engrossing, easy to hear and easy to follow. Since I'm hearing impaired, I find many audiobooks are too difficult to listen to, but this one was a pleasure. It was read by S. Epatha Merkerson (the African-American woman who has played Lt. Anita Van Buren on Law and Order).
This book is one of the most fascinating pieces of historical fiction I've read--and since it's my favorite genre, that's significant.
I "read" this book as an Audible.com audio book and found it to be very engrossing, easy to hear and easy to follow. Since I'm hearing impaired, I find many audiobooks are too difficult to listen to, but this one was a pleasure. It was read by S. Epatha Merkerson (the African-American woman who has played Lt. Anita Van Buren on Law and Order).
April 5, 2017
الحُرية مع الالَم اكرمَ للأنسان مَن العُبودية مع الَسَعادة
والذي يحَرمَ رجَلًا آخَر من حُريته هو سجَين الكراهيَة والتحيز َو ضِيق الأفُق
فلا يحَق لبشر ان يَستعَبد غَيرهُ بَدافع الَتمِييز في الَلون او الديُن.
فكلُنا سوَاااء خُلقَنَا مَن الترآب وله حتمَاً َسَنعوُد.
................
"إليزابيَل الَليندي"
روايه تُعد من اروع ما قرأءتُ عن مُعاناه المُواطنين "ذوي البَشرة السمراء"مَن وطَأة العبُودية
والتي كاَنت مُوجودة في القَرنيَن المَاضين والتي عَاني منها العَديُد من مُواطني أفَريقيا
وكل الُدول التي كانتَ واقَعه تحَت الاحتَلال الفَرنسي والإنجليزي وغيَرهُا من الدُول الاستعَمارية
التي كَانت تعَتمُد علي سُكان تَلك البُلداَن في أستَنزاف خيَرات الدوُله وتسَخير موُاطنيها ونسَائهم
بل واطَفالهُم في العبُودية والتنكُيل والاغتَصاَب والقَتل بل والاتَجار في أبنائَهم كَما لوُ كاَنوُ حيَواناَت لا مثَقال لهَا وَلا وَزن.
تسَرد لَنا الراَئعه "إليزابيَل الَليندي" في تُحفه أدبَيه ُمعَاناه فتَاه وُلدت في كَنف العُبودية
وبيِعت وهِي في سِن صِغَير ألي إحد الاَقتطاعَين الذَين يَملكُون مَزارع القَصب
في سانَ دُومَانغ في أحدي الدُول الافَريَقيه والذَي اشَتراها لتكُون خاَدمه لزوجُته
فتشرح "زاَريتيتي "او كماَ كَانو يطُلقوَن علَيها "تيِتيِ" تشَرح تَفاصيل تلَك الحَياه
بَما فيهَا من ألم وَوجع يَعتصرُ الفُؤاد ويخَلق في النَفس الشجنَ ويَخلف فَي النفسَ الألم
لمَا عانَته تلك الفَتاه في شتي مراحَل عمُرها بدا من أغتصَابها
وهي في التَاسعه من عمُرها !!علَي يد مالكَها الُمدعو "تولوُز فاُلمُوران" حتي الي َما َبعد حُصولها علي حرُيتيها
وتأسيس حياه خاصهَ بهَا في حين ان كَثيرات غيرُها عاَشو ومَاتو وهمُ عبَيد لَا حيَاه لهمُ سَوي الذُل والعَار وان ماتَو فمُوتهَم في سَبيل لاَ شئ.
...........................
الرَواَيه كَا مضُمون أدبَي أشتَمل علي عَناصر عديدَه أدت الي خرُوجه بَهذا الشَكل
الاقَرب الي اﻹكتَمال من النوَاحي الفَنيه والإبَداعية منَ حيَث
=المَكاَن
والَذي داَرت فيه الأحدَث في أفريَقيا وتحَديًدا في غِنيا دَاخل مُقاطعة" سَان دومانغ" والَتي ُيطلق عليهَا حَليًا هَايتي
حيث كانت السيطَره الفرنَسية علي كُل مزَارع القصَب التي تنتُج السُكر
والذَي كَان في وُقتها هوا اكَتشاف العصَر والتجارَه الأكَثر ربحًا في الأوَساط التُجارية
اختيار الكَاتبة لتِلك المَنطقه والتي كَانت مشُهوره في المُعامله المِهينه
للأفارقة َ"ذوي البشرة السمراء"فيَ زرَاعه وحصَاد القصَب وتحوَيله الي سُكر في معَامل التَكرير
كانتَ حياتهُم بلا مَعني ولا مسُتقبل سِوا انَهم مِلك للشَخص زو البَشرة البيَضاء
والذي أبدعتَ الكاتبة في وَصفُهم وسَرد الطرُق الوحِشيه الساَديه التي كانو يتعاَملوُن بَها مع العَبيد.
=الشَخصيات ألآسَاسيَه في الرَواية وهُم
- تيتي، ,غآمبو
- ،رُوزيت، , مُوريس
- ،فيَوليت بَواسٍير .و،سَانتشو
- اورُتنيس غيَز. , توُلوز فَالموُرآن
- دكتور بارمونتَيُه، والعَرافه تَانت روُز
كل هؤلاء الشخصياَت التي من الممكُن ان يكُتب في كُل واَحدًأ منُهم رواَية خاصه َبَه
استَطاعت الكَاتبه ان تَمزج بيَنهم خطُوط الكِتاب العرَيضة وتنَسج الأفَكار وتَربطها بالاَحدَاث
ليَخرج الَمشهد للقاَرء في كلُ مَُحادثه تحَدثُ بين تلك الشَخصيات وبَعضها البعَض
كَما لو انك متُعايش معاَها.حيث السَرد الوفَي والشرح المفُصل المبُسط لأصَعب المُواقف
في داخلَ الرواَية كاَنت تَنقُلها الَكاتبه بَحس فني َيجَعلُك تتَوحد مع تلك الَشخصية متأثر بَما تُقوُله
َومتشوق لما هوا انَت بلا اي قفزاَت بين الفقَرات ولا تنقلَات ُسرَيع تخُرجَك من الحاَله التي تَعيشها مع الكِتاب.
...............
مايؤُخذ علي الكِتاب هو وجوُد العدَيد من المشَاهد الجنسِية التي بالغَت في وصفها الَكاتبه
للحَد الذي يجَعل القارئ يتجاَوزُ تلك السُطور شئ فا شئ الي اَن يَصل الي ما بَعدها
ولكن تكرَار تلك المشَاهد والتَي كان من الُممكن ان يتمَ التَعامل معهَا بطَريقه
ان يَتم إيصاَل المَعني المطُلوب دون ُالافرَاط في الوصَف الضَمني للمشهَد.
................
ولكنَ ما ان تبَداء في الروَاية لن تتَمني لها ان تنَتهي فهي قَيمه بحَق
َولها من الثناء اَكثر بكثير مما عليها من تعقيباتَ والتَحيه والتَقدير والاَحترام للمتُرجم.
"صَالح عَلماني"
علي أخرَاجُه لهَذا الَعمل الَادَبي فَي هذه الصُوره الطَيبه وبهَذا الاتَقان المُحترف
................
الحمَدُ لله على نعَمة ألإسلام الذي أقر الحُريه لجَميع ألبَشرَ دون تَفرقهَ
فلا فَضَل لعرَبي علي اعجمَي ولا أسوَد علي ابيَض إلا بالتقَوي
ومقياس الإنسان َفي الاسلام بما يفَعُله من خَير تجاه البَشر
لا فضل َلنسبً ينتَسب إليَه ولا بعائَلة لها سُلطان وجَاه ولا بماَل يمُلكه
.فحقُ العبوديه حقَ مَكفُولً لله وحَده لا َشرَيك لَه
فـَالحمدُ لله حَتي يَبلغ الحمُد منُتهآآآآآه ..
تمت . .ِ~
July 17, 2012
Three & a half stars.
Isabel Allende is a passionate, confident storyteller. To read her sweeping historical fiction is to surrender to high drama and romance.
I first knew Allende as a writer of magical realism with works like Eva Luna and Of Love and Shadows, in which she intertwines contemporary political drama with strokes of the surreal and mystical. But her debut novel, The House of the Spirits, published in 1982 and the epics which followed, such as Daughter of Fortune, Portrait in Sepia, Zorro reveal a writer rooted deeply in the past and enamored of rich, complex, colorful narratives.
In Island Beneath The Sea, Allende wraps her considerable skill around the sugar plantations of Saint Domingue, an island in the Caribbean. She opens the story in 1770 with the arrival of Toulouse Valmorain, a young minor noble who is charged with resurrecting the plantation his dying father has left to rot. Paralleling the third-person narrative of Valmorain's misadventures, the death of Saint-Domingue and the birth of the first black republic, Haiti, is the first-person stream of Zarité, a slave. We witness the horrors of slavery from a position removed, seeing all angles as plantation owners fight to hold onto their wealth and slaves fall by the thousands. We are also invited into the heart of woman who fights for her soul despite the inhumanity that touches every aspect of her life.
The action is brutal and graphic; Allende spares no detail in describing the incomprehensible cruelty suffered by slaves. We read scene after scene of torture, from a sea voyage in chains from Africa to the Caribbean - survived by those who escape being fed to sharks or wasting away from starvation or disease - to the living hell of sugarcane fields where the slaves are worked literally to death.
It would seem that the author intended to give the greatest weight to the story of Zarité. Even the book's synopsis asserts that this story is about "a mulatta woman determined to take control of her own destiny." But the initial focus of Island Beneath The Sea is the political and sociological conditions of Saint-Domingue which lead to a slave revolution and the fight for an independent black nation. Zarité's voice seems like a whisper, an impression reinforced by the italics used for the chapters of her narrative. Allende excels at creating strong female characters and there are many in this story: the gorgeous concubine Violette, the shrieking harridan Hortense, the formidable healer Tante Rose. But Zarité's story is cast in the shadow of Haiti's violent birth and the wretched immorality of the colonials.
Then the story moves from the newly formed island nation to Louisiana and the center of French culture in the New World, New Orleans. It is here that the story shifts from historical epic to Gothic drama. The families transplanted from the Caribbean struggle to find new places in a society where the rules change with its citizens' fortunes. The shift is frustrating - we leave behind themes of freedom and political determination and are dropped instead into several different romantic subplots. Even as I was entertained, I felt intellectually cheated by the discarding of so vital a story.
It is impossible not to be swept away by Allende's vivid detail and breathtaking scope of history; in fact, so much scene-setting and character description can steam-roll the reader. The first half is entrancing, the second half is entertaining. Although Allende's story isn't always convincing, her passion is.
Isabel Allende is a passionate, confident storyteller. To read her sweeping historical fiction is to surrender to high drama and romance.
I first knew Allende as a writer of magical realism with works like Eva Luna and Of Love and Shadows, in which she intertwines contemporary political drama with strokes of the surreal and mystical. But her debut novel, The House of the Spirits, published in 1982 and the epics which followed, such as Daughter of Fortune, Portrait in Sepia, Zorro reveal a writer rooted deeply in the past and enamored of rich, complex, colorful narratives.
In Island Beneath The Sea, Allende wraps her considerable skill around the sugar plantations of Saint Domingue, an island in the Caribbean. She opens the story in 1770 with the arrival of Toulouse Valmorain, a young minor noble who is charged with resurrecting the plantation his dying father has left to rot. Paralleling the third-person narrative of Valmorain's misadventures, the death of Saint-Domingue and the birth of the first black republic, Haiti, is the first-person stream of Zarité, a slave. We witness the horrors of slavery from a position removed, seeing all angles as plantation owners fight to hold onto their wealth and slaves fall by the thousands. We are also invited into the heart of woman who fights for her soul despite the inhumanity that touches every aspect of her life.
The action is brutal and graphic; Allende spares no detail in describing the incomprehensible cruelty suffered by slaves. We read scene after scene of torture, from a sea voyage in chains from Africa to the Caribbean - survived by those who escape being fed to sharks or wasting away from starvation or disease - to the living hell of sugarcane fields where the slaves are worked literally to death.
It would seem that the author intended to give the greatest weight to the story of Zarité. Even the book's synopsis asserts that this story is about "a mulatta woman determined to take control of her own destiny." But the initial focus of Island Beneath The Sea is the political and sociological conditions of Saint-Domingue which lead to a slave revolution and the fight for an independent black nation. Zarité's voice seems like a whisper, an impression reinforced by the italics used for the chapters of her narrative. Allende excels at creating strong female characters and there are many in this story: the gorgeous concubine Violette, the shrieking harridan Hortense, the formidable healer Tante Rose. But Zarité's story is cast in the shadow of Haiti's violent birth and the wretched immorality of the colonials.
Then the story moves from the newly formed island nation to Louisiana and the center of French culture in the New World, New Orleans. It is here that the story shifts from historical epic to Gothic drama. The families transplanted from the Caribbean struggle to find new places in a society where the rules change with its citizens' fortunes. The shift is frustrating - we leave behind themes of freedom and political determination and are dropped instead into several different romantic subplots. Even as I was entertained, I felt intellectually cheated by the discarding of so vital a story.
It is impossible not to be swept away by Allende's vivid detail and breathtaking scope of history; in fact, so much scene-setting and character description can steam-roll the reader. The first half is entrancing, the second half is entertaining. Although Allende's story isn't always convincing, her passion is.
May 17, 2023
“I know that colony is a purgatory of fatal illnesses and rebellious Negroes.”
As a fictional recounting of the late 18th century French and Spanish colonial experience in Saint-Domingue (now known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic), ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA is also a gut-wrenching telling of the story of slavery and the black’s rebellion on the island against their cruel, self-satisfied owners. That story of bondage, violence, brutality, and fear is told through the eyes of Tété, a mixed-race mulatto slave and a concubine, the daughter of a black mother and a white sailor, parents of whom she has no knowledge or recollection and Toulouse Valmorain, a naïve young French landowner who arrives on the island in 1770 with dreams of becoming wealthy running his father’s sugar plantation.
As I read ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA (and, sadly, well past the halfway mark of the novel, set aside as a DNF), I was reminded of my thoughts while I read José Saramago’s BLINDNESS whose back cover marketing blurb gushed,
“A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century. BLINDNESS is a powerful portrayal of man’s worst appetites and weaknesses – and man’s ultimately exhilarating spirit.”
Hmmm … in short, a clearly very high-minded and literary description for a very literary novel. One of the back-cover marketing blurbs for ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA was no less “literary” in its high-minded and high-brow praise,
“A powerfully evocative narrative … Allende is at her best here: spinning words like spells, enthralling the reader with surreal visions of the New World”.
In hindsight, I should have been expecting exactly the kind of novel that I had in my hands.
There is no question that ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA has moments of breathtaking brilliance. The outrageous self-entitlement and pompous superiority of the colonial white slavemasters was beyond shocking and gripping. But the mixture of history, races, emotions, a myriad cast of characters and narrators, and Allende’s style of literary composition of ideas just never gelled into a story that I felt compelled to finish. One or two stars for my personal reaction and the fact that it was a DNF combined with three or four stars for the episodic “wow” moments averages it out to a rounded down two star “been there, done that” for me.
Paul Weiss
As a fictional recounting of the late 18th century French and Spanish colonial experience in Saint-Domingue (now known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic), ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA is also a gut-wrenching telling of the story of slavery and the black’s rebellion on the island against their cruel, self-satisfied owners. That story of bondage, violence, brutality, and fear is told through the eyes of Tété, a mixed-race mulatto slave and a concubine, the daughter of a black mother and a white sailor, parents of whom she has no knowledge or recollection and Toulouse Valmorain, a naïve young French landowner who arrives on the island in 1770 with dreams of becoming wealthy running his father’s sugar plantation.
As I read ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA (and, sadly, well past the halfway mark of the novel, set aside as a DNF), I was reminded of my thoughts while I read José Saramago’s BLINDNESS whose back cover marketing blurb gushed,
“A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century. BLINDNESS is a powerful portrayal of man’s worst appetites and weaknesses – and man’s ultimately exhilarating spirit.”
Hmmm … in short, a clearly very high-minded and literary description for a very literary novel. One of the back-cover marketing blurbs for ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA was no less “literary” in its high-minded and high-brow praise,
“A powerfully evocative narrative … Allende is at her best here: spinning words like spells, enthralling the reader with surreal visions of the New World”.
In hindsight, I should have been expecting exactly the kind of novel that I had in my hands.
There is no question that ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA has moments of breathtaking brilliance. The outrageous self-entitlement and pompous superiority of the colonial white slavemasters was beyond shocking and gripping. But the mixture of history, races, emotions, a myriad cast of characters and narrators, and Allende’s style of literary composition of ideas just never gelled into a story that I felt compelled to finish. One or two stars for my personal reaction and the fact that it was a DNF combined with three or four stars for the episodic “wow” moments averages it out to a rounded down two star “been there, done that” for me.
Paul Weiss
July 3, 2023
Esta novela de Isabel Allende es de ficción histórica, donde nos muestra la colonia francesa en Santo Domingo un poco antes de el levantamiento de los esclavos y de que se reconociera como Haití.
Aquí iniciamos con la llegada de Toulouse Valmorain, un joven aristócrata francés , que llega a la isla para ayudar a su padre con la administración de una plantación de azúcar. A lo largo de la historia conoceremos la vida de este joven tanto en Santo Domingo y de Zarité , una joven esclava , en Santo Domingo como en Nueva Orleans.
Me gusto conocer la historia del esclavismo extremadamente cruel en el actual Haití, así como se estableció la sociedad de Nueva Orleans, con franceses, españoles, ingleses, , indígenas, esclavos y mulatos.
No me gusto como cierran la historia de algunos personajes, me quede con ganas de saber un poco más de su vida
Para mí es una novela de 4 estrellas y que recomiendo leer
Aquí iniciamos con la llegada de Toulouse Valmorain, un joven aristócrata francés , que llega a la isla para ayudar a su padre con la administración de una plantación de azúcar. A lo largo de la historia conoceremos la vida de este joven tanto en Santo Domingo y de Zarité , una joven esclava , en Santo Domingo como en Nueva Orleans.
Me gusto conocer la historia del esclavismo extremadamente cruel en el actual Haití, así como se estableció la sociedad de Nueva Orleans, con franceses, españoles, ingleses, , indígenas, esclavos y mulatos.
No me gusto como cierran la historia de algunos personajes, me quede con ganas de saber un poco más de su vida
Para mí es una novela de 4 estrellas y que recomiendo leer
May 11, 2020
السيدة إيزابيل ألليندي .. تكتب كما لم يكتب أحد من قبل ..
أي كلام هكتبه عن الرواية مش هيوفيها حقها ..
أي كلام هكتبه عن الرواية مش هيوفيها حقها ..
June 12, 2016
An ambitious saga of personal lives and aspirations amid the violent transition of Haiti from a French colony founded on slavery into an independent republic at the turn of the 18th century. We are immersed in the story of the slave Zarité on a sugar plantation and how she learns to survive under its young aristocratic master Valmorain, who rapes her at 13 and fathers children by her. She eventually gains his respect and some independent agency as a caretaker of his white son. When the time of the slave revolt comes, her love of this son keeps her from joining in, and she makes the sacrifice of helping Valmorin and the child escape the pillaging of the plantation. The plot gets a bit disjointed when they move to the New Orleans area to start a new plantation, and Zarité thrives on the hope of gaining her promised freedom and reconnecting with a son that tragically was given to another family.
All the horrors of slavery are covered through details of life on the plantation. The baroque caste system of the island’s society is portrayed through a panoply of characters among its small white ruling class and larger populations mixed race and free blacks. Among these are a French doctor, a priest, a voodoo priestess and herbalist, a mulatto courtesan, and a nightclub manager. Slaves outnumber the free population ten to one, continually imported from Africa to make up for those worked to death. Eventually enough runaways hiding out in the rough country gain enough leadership to fight back.
It has been hard for me to digest Haiti’s history from the few details I have been exposed to. This was one of the first revolutions by a European colony and the only successful slave revolt. It followed not too long after the American Revolution and overlapped the French Revolution. As much as abolition of slavery fit in with the call for human equality, the slaughter of whites was too brutal to countenance and the economic threat to colonial imperialism was too much for any European nation to recognize the nascent republic. The plantation owners were royalists, so military support for their cause was compromised, leading them as well as the revolutionaries to seek military support alternatingly from Britain and from Spain (which retained the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola, now the Dominican Repbublic). With the rise of Napoleon, the abolition of slavery and rights of free blacks was initially supported, but that didn’t last long. Military forces placed there were subject to rates of death from diseases like yellow fever perhaps as high as 50%. Eventually, Napoleon’s need to concentrate on his ambitions in Europe led him to give up on Haiti, as well as to sell French continental holdings to the U.S. as the Louisiana Purchase.
I admire Allende for trying to bring these momentous events for Haiti to life though her characters. Zarité is an engaging character and moved me with her courage and heart wrenching experiences. But the events of the revolution remained confusing from her individual’s perspective and the play of the lives of the many other characters was a bit too melodramatic to rise much above their serving as representatives in a diorama. Thus, the book was closer to 3.5 stars.
Unlike the American Revolution, the birth of the Haitian republic is a painful reminder of such a long period of dashed hopes. The debt of reparations to France prevented Haiti’s economy from ever growing into a healthy one. Tragically, the republic came under a series of black dictators and many decades of interventions by U.S. and European forces and by large corporations. I Last visited Haiti through Kidder’s wonderful account of the public health work by Paul Farmer, “Mountains Beyond Mountains.” Since that time, the Haitian people have been devastated by major hurricanes in 2004 and 2008 and by a massive earthquake in 2010. We must resist the impulse to mentally give up on its beleaguered people, the poorest in the western hemisphere, and try to shut it out of one’s mind. Kidder’s book can help you appreciate how wrong that is and how much hope there is for these wonderful people and their beautiful country. This read from Allende reveals how long ago that hope was launched.
All the horrors of slavery are covered through details of life on the plantation. The baroque caste system of the island’s society is portrayed through a panoply of characters among its small white ruling class and larger populations mixed race and free blacks. Among these are a French doctor, a priest, a voodoo priestess and herbalist, a mulatto courtesan, and a nightclub manager. Slaves outnumber the free population ten to one, continually imported from Africa to make up for those worked to death. Eventually enough runaways hiding out in the rough country gain enough leadership to fight back.
It has been hard for me to digest Haiti’s history from the few details I have been exposed to. This was one of the first revolutions by a European colony and the only successful slave revolt. It followed not too long after the American Revolution and overlapped the French Revolution. As much as abolition of slavery fit in with the call for human equality, the slaughter of whites was too brutal to countenance and the economic threat to colonial imperialism was too much for any European nation to recognize the nascent republic. The plantation owners were royalists, so military support for their cause was compromised, leading them as well as the revolutionaries to seek military support alternatingly from Britain and from Spain (which retained the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola, now the Dominican Repbublic). With the rise of Napoleon, the abolition of slavery and rights of free blacks was initially supported, but that didn’t last long. Military forces placed there were subject to rates of death from diseases like yellow fever perhaps as high as 50%. Eventually, Napoleon’s need to concentrate on his ambitions in Europe led him to give up on Haiti, as well as to sell French continental holdings to the U.S. as the Louisiana Purchase.
I admire Allende for trying to bring these momentous events for Haiti to life though her characters. Zarité is an engaging character and moved me with her courage and heart wrenching experiences. But the events of the revolution remained confusing from her individual’s perspective and the play of the lives of the many other characters was a bit too melodramatic to rise much above their serving as representatives in a diorama. Thus, the book was closer to 3.5 stars.
Unlike the American Revolution, the birth of the Haitian republic is a painful reminder of such a long period of dashed hopes. The debt of reparations to France prevented Haiti’s economy from ever growing into a healthy one. Tragically, the republic came under a series of black dictators and many decades of interventions by U.S. and European forces and by large corporations. I Last visited Haiti through Kidder’s wonderful account of the public health work by Paul Farmer, “Mountains Beyond Mountains.” Since that time, the Haitian people have been devastated by major hurricanes in 2004 and 2008 and by a massive earthquake in 2010. We must resist the impulse to mentally give up on its beleaguered people, the poorest in the western hemisphere, and try to shut it out of one’s mind. Kidder’s book can help you appreciate how wrong that is and how much hope there is for these wonderful people and their beautiful country. This read from Allende reveals how long ago that hope was launched.
March 4, 2023
5,0 ✨✨✨
(audiobook)
Such a powerful, heartbreaking story!
Allende did it again. She blew me away.
I will take this story with me for a very long time.
S. Epatha Merkerson did a great job narrating such a gem. Loved it.
(audiobook)
Such a powerful, heartbreaking story!
Allende did it again. She blew me away.
I will take this story with me for a very long time.
S. Epatha Merkerson did a great job narrating such a gem. Loved it.
May 14, 2021
Island Beneath the Sea was a very different book by one of my favorite Latin American writers, Isabelle Allende. This most powerful book took place in Santa-Domingue in the late eighteenth-century, later to be known as Haiti. There is a lot of history in this sprawling novel that we should embrace. This beautiful epic book spanned four generations from 1770 when young twenty-year old Toulouse Valmorain went to run his father's sugar plantation, Saint-Lazare. What unfolds is an epic historical fiction of this sometimes forgotten piece of history as there is an uprising on the island. And unforgettable is Zarite or "Tete" as we come to know her. This is her story, beginning as a young woman born into slavery owned by Valmorain, but always dreaming of her burning and constant desire for freedom. How their very involved and entwined lives evolve over the years, not only in Haiti but later in New Orleans, Louisiana, is the tie that holds this story together.
This work of Isabelle Allende, while not one of my favorites by her, still has her signature lyrical and enchanting narrative as well as her anger at injustice, cruelty and loss. Her graphic portrayals of the evils of slavery are equalled only by Toni Morrison. This book will make you cringe as you want to look away, but it is important that one does not.
"Music is a wind that blows away the years, memories, and fear, that crouching animal i carry inside of me."
"Rhythm is born on the island beneath the sea; it shakes the earth, it cuts through me like a lightning bolt and rises toward the sky, carrying with it my sorrows so that Papa Bondye can chew them, swallow them, and leave me clean and happy."
"That was the beginning of the revolution. Many years have gone by and blood keeps running, soaking the soil of Haiti, but I am not there to weep."
This work of Isabelle Allende, while not one of my favorites by her, still has her signature lyrical and enchanting narrative as well as her anger at injustice, cruelty and loss. Her graphic portrayals of the evils of slavery are equalled only by Toni Morrison. This book will make you cringe as you want to look away, but it is important that one does not.
"Music is a wind that blows away the years, memories, and fear, that crouching animal i carry inside of me."
"Rhythm is born on the island beneath the sea; it shakes the earth, it cuts through me like a lightning bolt and rises toward the sky, carrying with it my sorrows so that Papa Bondye can chew them, swallow them, and leave me clean and happy."
"That was the beginning of the revolution. Many years have gone by and blood keeps running, soaking the soil of Haiti, but I am not there to weep."
Want to read
May 31, 2011Thursday evening, May 6th, I had the good fortune to attend a talk and reading by the most famous living Latin American author. Isabel Allende read from her new novel Island Beneath the Sea at the Atlanta History Center to an auditorium full of fans. She was a delight!!
It had been years since someone had read to me and I had quite forgotten what a pleasure that can be. Author Allende reading her new book in her wonderful Latin American accent made for one of the most pleasurable evenings out I have had in a long time. Island Beneath the Sea is an exciting story and as usual has a strong female character. Notably, Allende advised when asked about her female characters from a member of the audience, that she did not know any women who were not strong. Who can't love an author that thinks that way?!
I also want to congratulate the Atlanta History Center for doing a good job of making the reading and signing a pleasurable experience for those attending. I plan to attend more events there in the future. The parking was good, the grounds are beautiful, the auditorium was comfortable, and the open bar was a nice touch.
I have never read a book by Isabel Allende, but had fully intended to for some years. Now that I have a copy of her new book, I will bump it up the "to-read" list.
It had been years since someone had read to me and I had quite forgotten what a pleasure that can be. Author Allende reading her new book in her wonderful Latin American accent made for one of the most pleasurable evenings out I have had in a long time. Island Beneath the Sea is an exciting story and as usual has a strong female character. Notably, Allende advised when asked about her female characters from a member of the audience, that she did not know any women who were not strong. Who can't love an author that thinks that way?!
I also want to congratulate the Atlanta History Center for doing a good job of making the reading and signing a pleasurable experience for those attending. I plan to attend more events there in the future. The parking was good, the grounds are beautiful, the auditorium was comfortable, and the open bar was a nice touch.
I have never read a book by Isabel Allende, but had fully intended to for some years. Now that I have a copy of her new book, I will bump it up the "to-read" list.
June 16, 2016
الجزيرة تحت البحر
الفاتنة التشيلية من جديد، اقرأ كتبها مفرقة وببطء، كأنني لا أريد لهذه الرحلة أن تنتهي، كما ظهر أثر التقدم على العمر وسنوات الكتابة على يوسا في روايته الأخيرة (حلم السلتي)، يظهر ذلك الآن على ايزابيل في روايتها هذه.
لا... ليست سيئة، الرواية أفضل من عشرات الروايات التي تثقل الرفوف، ولكنك تقرأ لإيزابيل منذ عقد الآن، فلذا تشعر بأن هناك شيء ما مفقود، حرارة، شعلة، شيء كان يجوس في كتبها الأولى، تلك التفاصيل التي كانت تصوغها بحدب، تبدو الآن باهتة قليلاً.
هذه رواية عن العبودية، عن زاريتيه أو تيتي، الفتاة التي ولدت في العالم الجديد، من أم جلبت من أفريقيا بالقوة، تأخذنا الليندي لسان دومانغ – والتي صارت تعرف فيما بعد بهاييتي -، حيث نشهد حياة زاريتيه كعبدة للسيد الأبيض الفرنسي فالموران، نتابع خدمتها له، حملها ولمرات من اغتصاباته لها، فقدانها لأبنائها حال الولادة، لا يمكن لها أن تحتفظ بأبناء عبيد، كل ما عليها أن تركز عليه هو ابن السيد، نتابع الثورة المشتعلة في سان دومانغ، وجيش العبيد الآبقين وهو يقتل البيض ويهزم الفرنسيين ويعلن أول جمهورية للزنوج، ونتابع مسار العائلة إذ تنتقل من هاييتي إلى نيو أورلينز، حياة جديدة للبيض، وذات العبودية للسود.
رواية فاتنة، ستحب شخصياتها وخاصة تيتي، إنها إطلالة على عالم أسود، خلفته البشرية ورائها، ولازالت آثاره تلوث حاضرنا.
الفاتنة التشيلية من جديد، اقرأ كتبها مفرقة وببطء، كأنني لا أريد لهذه الرحلة أن تنتهي، كما ظهر أثر التقدم على العمر وسنوات الكتابة على يوسا في روايته الأخيرة (حلم السلتي)، يظهر ذلك الآن على ايزابيل في روايتها هذه.
لا... ليست سيئة، الرواية أفضل من عشرات الروايات التي تثقل الرفوف، ولكنك تقرأ لإيزابيل منذ عقد الآن، فلذا تشعر بأن هناك شيء ما مفقود، حرارة، شعلة، شيء كان يجوس في كتبها الأولى، تلك التفاصيل التي كانت تصوغها بحدب، تبدو الآن باهتة قليلاً.
هذه رواية عن العبودية، عن زاريتيه أو تيتي، الفتاة التي ولدت في العالم الجديد، من أم جلبت من أفريقيا بالقوة، تأخذنا الليندي لسان دومانغ – والتي صارت تعرف فيما بعد بهاييتي -، حيث نشهد حياة زاريتيه كعبدة للسيد الأبيض الفرنسي فالموران، نتابع خدمتها له، حملها ولمرات من اغتصاباته لها، فقدانها لأبنائها حال الولادة، لا يمكن لها أن تحتفظ بأبناء عبيد، كل ما عليها أن تركز عليه هو ابن السيد، نتابع الثورة المشتعلة في سان دومانغ، وجيش العبيد الآبقين وهو يقتل البيض ويهزم الفرنسيين ويعلن أول جمهورية للزنوج، ونتابع مسار العائلة إذ تنتقل من هاييتي إلى نيو أورلينز، حياة جديدة للبيض، وذات العبودية للسود.
رواية فاتنة، ستحب شخصياتها وخاصة تيتي، إنها إطلالة على عالم أسود، خلفته البشرية ورائها، ولازالت آثاره تلوث حاضرنا.
February 3, 2023
لم يبقَ أجمل من هذا
سرد ممتع..وقصة جميلة..وشخصيات مختلفة..كلها تجري ضمن الواقعية السحرية للعزيزة إيزابيل
نهاية لطيفة وهادئة
وشخصيات ستظل عالقة في ذهنك لفترة طويلة بالتأكيد
تُقرأ بتمعن وعلى مهل..لتلقي جرعة الجمال ببطء والاستمتاع بها قدر الإمكان..
سرد ممتع..وقصة جميلة..وشخصيات مختلفة..كلها تجري ضمن الواقعية السحرية للعزيزة إيزابيل
نهاية لطيفة وهادئة
وشخصيات ستظل عالقة في ذهنك لفترة طويلة بالتأكيد
تُقرأ بتمعن وعلى مهل..لتلقي جرعة الجمال ببطء والاستمتاع بها قدر الإمكان..
October 24, 2018
"Islands Beneath the Sea" refers to where people go when they die. I guess it's some kind of folklore, the origins of which are unclear from the book. I don't have anything really deep and meaningful to say about this book. I thought it was in effect an overly emotional soap opera about cartoonishly evil and inept villain Toulouse Valmorain and the chronically persecuted Zarete (Tete). All of this against the backdrop of the very brutal slavery conditions in Saint-Domingue aka Haiti and the perils of being a free person in New Orleans during a time of slavery. The descriptions of history and the conditions depicted in the book of Haiti are done very well. It's clear that a lot of effort and research went into the first half of the book. Then I think Allende got tired of the futility and hopelessness of the story for her protagonist heroine Te Te. Allende seems to be at heart a romantic and the setting in Haiti was far too grim. Even with the (in my view) odd love story with fellow slave Gambo, she couldn't lighten the load to add that air of romance. So fast forward to New Orleans. Valmorain finds love with an awful woman (his just desserts) and Tete finds freedom and love with a free negro. Huzzah!! Everyone's happy right?!? Well as I mentioned, it's a soap opera about slavery. Inevitably Obviously there is more to the plot for this pretty long book, but it is also largely episodic and not that crucial to the story line. Actually in less skilled hands this book is a catastrophe, but Allende can write beautifully. The pages are dripping with florid and gorgeous language. Like her mentor Garcia-Marquez, Allende fills the page with every stray thought a character might have and with luscious descriptions of the environment. Characterizations in general however, are not a strong suit in this book. The emotions that I felt were not the characters emotions, they were the author's. And my goodness Allende does like to write about feelings about and surrounding sexy times . Through the horrors of slavery and perils of disillusionment, hopelessness and resentment; not one of the characters managed to elicit strong feelings from me. The bad folks were cartoonishly bad and the good folks were milquetoast. Also too, basically I'm not a fan of slave narratives. In fact I sort of loath them, so there's that too. A 3.5 Star read for me. The strength of the first half uplifted the episodic last half of the book. Having said that, I will definitely be reading more Allende.
3.5 Stars
Listened to the audiobook narrated by S Epatha Merkerson. The narration was good and kept my interest.
3.5 Stars
Listened to the audiobook narrated by S Epatha Merkerson. The narration was good and kept my interest.
January 3, 2011
الرواية جميلة نعم، ولكنها ليست مدهشة .. ربما الخطأ خطئي، لأنني أقرأ لـ إيزابيل الليندي بإخلاص منقطع النظير، وقد وجدت أن هذه الرواية لم تختلف عن كثير من سابقاتها، من حيث الأجواء والتفاصيل التي تحشو بها عالمها الروائي، والأدوات السردية التي وظفتها الكاتبة لصناعة هذا العالم ..
إيزابيل الليندي ما زالت تكتب العالم " المدهش سابقا / المكرر حالياً " الذي كتبته في ابنة الحظ، و إنيس حبيبة روحي، وبيت الأرواح .. باستثناء أنها تكتب هذه المرة عن العبودية .. والمشكلة، أنني لم أحس بخصوصية محور العبودية ولا بصدقه، ولم أشعر بإيزابيل الليندي تكتب كامرأة سوداء ومملوكة لرجل أبيض، وكل ما أريده .. هو أن أراها تقفز خارج قالبها الروائي الآمن الذي اعتادت مخاطبتنا من خلاله، وأن تكتب عالماً مختلفا جذريا ولو في سبيل المغامرة ..
باختصار: لسبب لا أستطيع تفسيره، لم أجدها رواية مكتوبة بالدم والدمع كما ينبغي.
October 31, 2012
I thought I would never finish this...like a split personality friend, the first 250 pages were a drag and the last 250 were epic!
This is a big feat, my friends, to have finished this book. I'm serious. Somebody throw me a party, because for a 500 page book (which is usually no big deal), this one felt like Moby Dick, minus the whale. It was that slow. I almost gave up on it, but kept returning to it because I had spent $10 on the e-book and it was recommended to me, so there's that.
But hey, I have to say I'm glad I read it. It felt like Gone with the Wind---epic in scale, history, and the characters. I felt a part of something big. It covered a couple generations, too, so by the time I finished I had to think about all that I had 'experienced.' I don't know if I can recommend it though, because of those first 200 pages or so.
It follows Zarite, a black slave girl who is bought by a rich white plantation owner as his wife's slave. Zarite experiences first-hand the violence, prejudice, scorn, rape, etc. that comes with being a female slave and forced concubine. She has children ripped from her and fights for years for her freedom (and theirs.) It's gut-wrenching, the characters read as real people, and I became so wrapped up in what was to happen to them that I couldn't put it down (those last 200 some pages, mind you.) So, I don't know if I can recommend this. It is like that long day of yardwork you do for your Dad and you totally hate it but then feel good and sweaty by the end. Or that stupid relationship you have in high school where it was kind of dragged out and stupid and great but you know you learned something by the end. I think it's one of those in which you love it 10x more in retrospect. Like that one party your friends and you recount but know at the time it was kind of boring and the food was gross.
The writing was....poorly paced and sometimes so wordy I had to skim entire chapters (I don't care about that neighbor's history, or that general, or how many barrels of cane are sold.) But then all the sudden she'd drop some bomb in the mist of her history lesson that a character died, so suddenly in fact that I almost missed it when skimming over the history of slave voodoo. So, I wish I could be her editor and red line this book..it would improve it immensely.
(3 out of 5 stars)
This is a big feat, my friends, to have finished this book. I'm serious. Somebody throw me a party, because for a 500 page book (which is usually no big deal), this one felt like Moby Dick, minus the whale. It was that slow. I almost gave up on it, but kept returning to it because I had spent $10 on the e-book and it was recommended to me, so there's that.
But hey, I have to say I'm glad I read it. It felt like Gone with the Wind---epic in scale, history, and the characters. I felt a part of something big. It covered a couple generations, too, so by the time I finished I had to think about all that I had 'experienced.' I don't know if I can recommend it though, because of those first 200 pages or so.
It follows Zarite, a black slave girl who is bought by a rich white plantation owner as his wife's slave. Zarite experiences first-hand the violence, prejudice, scorn, rape, etc. that comes with being a female slave and forced concubine. She has children ripped from her and fights for years for her freedom (and theirs.) It's gut-wrenching, the characters read as real people, and I became so wrapped up in what was to happen to them that I couldn't put it down (those last 200 some pages, mind you.) So, I don't know if I can recommend this. It is like that long day of yardwork you do for your Dad and you totally hate it but then feel good and sweaty by the end. Or that stupid relationship you have in high school where it was kind of dragged out and stupid and great but you know you learned something by the end. I think it's one of those in which you love it 10x more in retrospect. Like that one party your friends and you recount but know at the time it was kind of boring and the food was gross.
The writing was....poorly paced and sometimes so wordy I had to skim entire chapters (I don't care about that neighbor's history, or that general, or how many barrels of cane are sold.) But then all the sudden she'd drop some bomb in the mist of her history lesson that a character died, so suddenly in fact that I almost missed it when skimming over the history of slave voodoo. So, I wish I could be her editor and red line this book..it would improve it immensely.
(3 out of 5 stars)
July 22, 2018
I am absolutely in love with Isabel Allende's writing. When I read "The House of Spirits" I was captivated with how she is able to captivate her readers. She continues her magical writing with "Island Beneath The Sea".
In Island Beneath The Sea we are taken to 1770 on the island of Saint Domingue (Haiti) where we meet Zarite, who is a slave on the island. We also meet French, Toulouse Valmorain who arrives on the island to run his father's plantation. Of course, Toulouse Valmorain, new to the island isn't prepared for all the troubles that comes with being on an island, especially during the time when Haiti is changing. Both Valmorain and Zarite's worlds meets and from there we are taken up into a sweeping saga that continues for over a century.
Honestly, Isabel Allende can do no wrong. I was reading this book hoping it wouldn't end, but wanting to know what the end will be like....that's how good it was. If you are looking for an amazing read set in the Caribbean during the 1770, this is it. You will not only read about great characters but get a history lesson on how Saint Domingue transformed to Haiti. What I also loved was getting a look into life in the Caribbean during that time.
An amazing read that I highly recommend!
In Island Beneath The Sea we are taken to 1770 on the island of Saint Domingue (Haiti) where we meet Zarite, who is a slave on the island. We also meet French, Toulouse Valmorain who arrives on the island to run his father's plantation. Of course, Toulouse Valmorain, new to the island isn't prepared for all the troubles that comes with being on an island, especially during the time when Haiti is changing. Both Valmorain and Zarite's worlds meets and from there we are taken up into a sweeping saga that continues for over a century.
Honestly, Isabel Allende can do no wrong. I was reading this book hoping it wouldn't end, but wanting to know what the end will be like....that's how good it was. If you are looking for an amazing read set in the Caribbean during the 1770, this is it. You will not only read about great characters but get a history lesson on how Saint Domingue transformed to Haiti. What I also loved was getting a look into life in the Caribbean during that time.
An amazing read that I highly recommend!
November 12, 2016
3.5 stars, rounded up
Island Beneath the Sea is an epic historical saga, following the lives of slave Tété and her master Valmorain. The story begins on the island of Saint Domingue (modern day Haiti) and follows the pair through a slave uprising and onwards to exile in New Orleans. Allende’s storytelling is wonderful and she really transports the reader to the geographical and historical setting. I enjoyed the first part of the book, set in Haiti, more than the second part set in New Orleans, which was a little slow going at times. The story is mostly told by a third person narrator but there are occasional sections (printed in italics) told in the first person from Tété’s point of view. I wasn’t entirely sure that they added anything to the story, so I was a little baffled by their inclusion.
Overall, I found this an engaging read and I thought that Allende’s female characters in particular were wonderfully drawn. This is the first Allende book I have read but I am sure it won’t be the last.
Island Beneath the Sea is an epic historical saga, following the lives of slave Tété and her master Valmorain. The story begins on the island of Saint Domingue (modern day Haiti) and follows the pair through a slave uprising and onwards to exile in New Orleans. Allende’s storytelling is wonderful and she really transports the reader to the geographical and historical setting. I enjoyed the first part of the book, set in Haiti, more than the second part set in New Orleans, which was a little slow going at times. The story is mostly told by a third person narrator but there are occasional sections (printed in italics) told in the first person from Tété’s point of view. I wasn’t entirely sure that they added anything to the story, so I was a little baffled by their inclusion.
Overall, I found this an engaging read and I thought that Allende’s female characters in particular were wonderfully drawn. This is the first Allende book I have read but I am sure it won’t be the last.
October 21, 2014
عن بؤس العبودية عن القتال في سبيل الحرية وعن قصة تحرير هاييتي تتحدث هذه الرواية.
أحد أفضل روايات ايزابيل اللندي التي قرأتها حتى الآن، تسرد ايزابيل فيها قصة أول جمهورية نشأت بعد أن ثار العبيد فيها وتتحدث عن معاناة ��لعبيد وكيف كان الانسان يباع كسلعة بسبب اختلاف لون بشرته، الرواية ممتعة وذات أحداث مترابطة بأسلوب شيّق وبطريقة غير مملة.
أحد أفضل روايات ايزابيل اللندي التي قرأتها حتى الآن، تسرد ايزابيل فيها قصة أول جمهورية نشأت بعد أن ثار العبيد فيها وتتحدث عن معاناة ��لعبيد وكيف كان الانسان يباع كسلعة بسبب اختلاف لون بشرته، الرواية ممتعة وذات أحداث مترابطة بأسلوب شيّق وبطريقة غير مملة.
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