All Souls' Rising: A Novel of Haiti (1)

"e;A serious historical novel that reads like a dream."e; --The Washington Post Book World"e;One of the most spohisticated fictional treatments of the enduring themes of class, color, and freedom."e; --San Francisco ChronicleNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTPEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST This first installment of the epic Haitian trilogy brings to life a decisive moment in the history of race, class, and colonialism. The slave uprising in Haiti was a momentous contribution to the tide of revolution that swept over the Western world at the end of the 1700s. A brutal rebellion that strove to overturn a vicious system of slavery, the uprising successfully transformed Haiti from a European colony to the world?s first Black republic. From the center of this horrific maelstrom, the heroic figure of Toussaint Louverture?a loyal, literate slave and both a devout Catholic and Vodouisant?emerges as the man who will take the merciless fires of violence and vengeance and forge a revolutionary war fueled by liberty and equality. Bell assembles a kaleidoscopic portrait of this seminal movement through a tableau of characters that encompass black, white, male, female, rich, poor, free and enslaved. Pulsing with brilliant detail, All Soul?s Rising provides a visceral sense of the pain, terror, confusion, and triumph of revolution.