Praise for Maryse Condé "She describes the ravages of colonialism and the post-colonial chaos in a language which is both precise and overwhelming. In her stories the dead live close to the living in a world where gender, race, and class are constantly turned over in new constellations." -- ANN PÅLSSON, Jury, New Academy Prize in Literature "Condé is a born storyteller." -- Publishers Weekly "Maryse Condé is a great storyteller, she has managed to explore very political issues--gender, race, colonialism, class, postcolonial issues, slavery--and she did that a long time ago, and she did that in a variety of historical and geographical backgrounds. For me, she is a pioneer for us Afro-descendent women writers. She bridges gaps among the whole Black diaspora." -- BEATA UMUBYEYI MAIRESSE "She is part of our Black family . She has helped us to see ourselves reflected in so many different mirrors that she holds for us .
She is a force of nature, she is an inspiration to women . She has given us so much."-- BISI ADJAPON "There are lots of things I like about Maryse Condé''s writing, but one thing that gets me every time is the lyricism of her prose."-- CHIKA UNIGWE "It''s inspiring to see that Condé gives words and meaning to our histories--African histories, Black histories, Black lives."-- CLARICE GARGARD "Maryse Condé has given me the freedom to call myself woman." -- EDWIGE-RENÉE DRO "Maryse Condé is an African literary elder . she reminds us Anglophone readers that there is a world of Francophone literature out there that we are missing out on. I would like to point out that Maryse Condé built a bridge between Africa and the Caribbean world .
There''s this thing she does where she holds the reader''s hand, and the reader gets comfortable . and somewhere along the way you get smacked in the face." -- JENNIFER NANSUBUGA MAKUMBI "Her writing is so rich. It''s so vibrant. But, as well, you are learning things all the time. She''s just a wonderful storyteller. She''s a masterful storyteller. But she also has a sense of realism in her work.
It''s just wonderful--it''s an experience, reading her work." -- KADIJA GEORGE "Maryse Condé shows African lives in a way that''s rich, that''s glamorous, and in a way that shows the characters to be as flawed as they really are . It''s very rare to come across a writer of fiction who puts so much of their personal story into their work . Her books challenge one''s perceptions of oneself, which I think is one of the greatest things that Miss Maryse Condé does for the Black person. When you read her work you are forced to reexamine the definition of your own Blackness." -- LOLA SHONEYIN "Her work really links the questions that face Black people all over the world . showing you the conditions that the Black person faces in the world." -- MOLARA WOOD "I love the honesty .
she doesn''t go with the flow. It''s very easy for someone of her generation to have gone along with the tide of African socialism or Négritude, that sort of thing, but she''s always been honest about any misgivings or disinterest in certain currents of thinking and culture. She''s very original in that respect."-- NOO SARO-WIWA "I think she embodies the world. She belongs to the world . the breadth of her global experience, at a time when we didn''t speak about Black women as belonging to the world is remarkable." -- SISONKE MSIMANG "What I like is that she''s honest. I think she has confidence in her readers and lets them think for themselves, and that I appreciate a lot.
" -- VÉRONIQUE TADJO "Maryse Condé has managed to successfully bridge the gap between Africa and its diaspora. If nothing else, reading her work helps us get into the mindset to know about our brothers and sisters from the diaspora." -- ZUKISWA WANNER "Maryse Condé is a treasure of world literature, writing from the center of the African diaspora with brilliance and a profound understanding of all humanity."-- RUSSELL BANKS "Maryse Condé is the grande dame of Caribbean literature." -- NCRV Gids Praise for The Gospel According to the New World "With The Gospel According to the New World , Maryse Condé offers us a poetic and haunting fable-like novel. A newborn left in a garden, miracles and symbols--this is a biblical story that evokes wonder and conjures a welcome optimism. There is no age limit on dreaming." -- ELLE "A moving, gripping humanist novel not devoid of humor.
An evenhanded reflection on fraternity and love in the twenty-first century. Maryse Condé is phenomenal."-- Aujourd''hui en France "What a delightful adventure! Maryse Condé has the audacity to reinvent the Gospel, adapting it to her island, today''s Guadeloupe. Maryse Condé''s usual colorful, rich, sensuous prose sweeps us along. The author mischievously sticks close to the life of Jesus and then breaks away from it with the imagination and verve of a griot: it''s a celebration." -- La Vie "An irresistible version of the life of Jesus. What holds this novel together--more than the diversity of the episodes, the beauty of the erotic scenes, and the book''s humor--is Maryse Condé''s ability to play with our need to believe in a savior and our hope that another world is possible, as well as with the necessity to laugh with that dream. The book''s second victory is its portrait of the messiah as a man who goes to college and learns about the complexity of the world by talking to women of all walks of life.
The person the author imagines as the next messiah is a humble and loving being." -- Le Monde des livres Praise for Waiting for the Waters to Rise "Condé''s text is sprinkled with the names of global literary giants--Aimé Césaire, Jacques Roumain, Ousmane Sembène, Mahmoud Darwish, Derek Walcott--a roll call she certainly deserves to be added to." -- New York Times "Condé puts forth the secrets and histories of a fascinating cast, producing a timeless exploration of the wounds that emerge--and linger--when people lose those who mean the most to them, be it their family, friends, or country. This faithful portrayal of grief and displacement is tough to forget." -- Publishers Weekly "Condé excels in adding depth and texture to lives that are often relegated to the cutting room of disaster footage and humanitarian appeals." -- Irish Times "At once touching and devastating, the book explores the effects of loss and grief on a personal, communal, and national level, but does so with a personal voice that feels more like a having a conversation than reading a book--it is a novel that cements Condé as a literary giant who beautifully chronicles the humanity found in some of the most violent places in the world." -- GABINO IGLESIAS, NPR "Maryse Condé''s novel Waiting for the Waters to Rise addresses immigration, nationalism, friendship, colorism, and political power through the intersecting lives of three friends. As the story jumps from locale to locale, it conjures up the sense of statelessness that binds the men together.
The prose is fluid, luminous, and evocative of each setting. The subtle cynicism throughout the novel is balanced by the love the men have for each other." -- Foreword Reviews , starred review "While this novel takes its protagonist Babakar through civil wars and other scenes of global strife, it also moves forward and backward in time to illustrate the actions that took place decades and centuries before and contributed to his current state. The result is a moving story of isolation, community, and families both chosen and biological." -- Words Without Borders "When I think of Maryse Condé, I think of stories with a ton of magical flair. Waiting for the Waters to Rise is a moving read for the way the language gently draws you in. Condé''s language is dreamlike, suffused with poetry. The novel is enough of a page-turner, but what really keeps you transfixed to the page is the writing.
" -- AINEHI EDORO, Brittle Paper "Maryse Condé''s Waiting for the Waters to Rise begins in her native Guadeloupe but is ultimately a novel that centers on statelessness. The three characters at the novel''s heart--Babakar, Movar, and Fouad from Mali, Haiti, and Palestine respectively--are all migrants driven from their homelands. Condé is a master storyteller capable of traversing multiple countries with their own histories of colonialism and political violence so that we come to know each character more intimately and why the friendship they forge is so vital to their survival." -- Brooklyn Rail "A love letter to the Caribbean." -- The Guardian "Maryse Condé has lost nothing of her inimitable style, nor of her talent for painting strong and true characters." -- Le Monde "Maryse Condé has that remarkable talent of illuminating characters who are immersed in shadows." -- Brune Magazine "As always, Condé here delivers a sublime novel, mesmerizing, traversed by the destiny of three characters between Africa, the Antilles, and Haiti."-- Miss Ébène "A poignant and discreet story, with endearing characters.
" -- Lire "A map of anguishes and hopes, written in a sensual and melodic language." -- Croire Aujourd''hui "An enthralling novel, traversed by the destinies of three people, three men linked by an unbeatable friendship, who struggle to break free of their past." -- La Gazette "A dense book, a novel with complex layers.