In the fall of 2018 a student who did a 1 credit independent study decided she wanted to read another novel about the Duvalier regime in Haiti since she had enjoyed the themes in Les Chemins de Locomiroir (1992) by Lilas Desquiron. She did some research into possible novels and found two candidates, La mémoire aux abois (2010) by Evelyne Trouillot and Saisons sauvages (2010) by Kettly Mars. She selected the latter for the independent study, but lent me both.
I started with La mémoire aux abois in April.
It took a while to see the rhyme & reason behind the narrative structure. It alternates between regular font and itallics. One voice is the nurse and the other is the widow of a powerful Haitian dictator. Goodreads describes it as "un roman du dialogue," but "dialogue" suggests direct communication and the vast majority of it was not direct, nor was it communicative in the sense that neither woman knew what the other was thinking.
Also from Goodreads: "Dialogue improbable, impossible, combat entre deux mémoires : celle de la veuve qui se remémore la rencontre avec l'époux défunt, ce qu'étaient alors leurs rêves, en tous les cas les siens, puis les années terribles de l'exercice du pouvoir, et puis celle de la jeune femme toute imprégnée des souvenirs que sa mère lui a transmis - sa mère qui a vécu ces années de cauchemar et perdu son frère alors qu'elle n'était qu'une enfant. Paroles qui se cherchent, s'opposent, mangées de silences, de regrets et de reproches, dans une atmosphère qui se tend peu à peu entre la veuve oscillant entre regrets murmurés et méfiance, et puis la jeune femme, et à travers celle-ci, sa mère décédée dont les souvenirs la hantent et l'envahissent."
Just as the widow and the nurse end up talking past each other, so did the widow and her husband when he was alive and the nurse and her mother when she was alive. Despite the poor communication, it's obvious they bear the traces of the dictator's and mother's own traumas.
The majority of the book is each character sharing anecdotes and it was hard to know what the connection was between them until the last 30 pages, which made it clearer. You know the nurse’s family, like most Haitians (Quisquéyans) have been impacted by the dictatorship’s violence, but until then it wasn't clear how the 2 are connected.
The alternating perspectives give a good sense of two key groups of people in Haiti, the wealthy mulatto elite and the working class. They illustrate what it’s like to seek marriage and children against the backdrop.
It was fascinating to see that the country is clearly meant to be Haiti, but Trouillot doesn’t call it that. When it so clearly is, what is gained from not? Thanks to this book, I just learned the term for this kind of novel is "roman à clef" where real people or events appear with invented names.
The clearest theme is the idea that trauma can be transmitted to one’s loved ones, which means Haitians have a long road ahead of them.
Other passages I noted:
April 21, 2019 –
page 181
"To 184 nurse has talked about wanting to kill the dictator’s wife but instead when the old woman has an attack that threatens her life, she saves her bc her mother values life above all else. All of the moves lost meant something & are connected."
April 21, 2019 –
page 171
"To 177 November 1980 suggestion the nurse’s father was involved in an attack ordered by the dictator."
April 21, 2019 –
page 168
"A pattern is finally emerging. The widow talks about something and then the nurse talks about something and there’s a thread that connects them. Ex in this chp: having a baby."
April 21, 2019 –
page 161
"At the end of his life the president refused to let his daughter succeed him even though she delegates tasks, makes decisions and runs the presidency. His only and final reason is she’s only a woman. Grr."
April 21, 2019 –
page 144
"Consulting an hougan for president’s funeral & consultation w other important govt matters. Vaudou plays well with the locals who like their ties to the folk religion."
April 19, 2019 –
page 100
"The other narrator is the widow of the dictator. I like the perspectives of two aged women, but it’s weird that one is mediated by her daughter. why. To show historical trauma is passed down through the generations?"
April 19, 2019 –
page 99
"One narrator recounts her mother’s memories of Haiti w such detail that her own identity and history is almost totally absent. She remarks how the dictatorship is glued to her skin too because of her mother’s stories."
March 21, 2019 –
page 68
"All things Haitian are slightly changed so they don’t actually describe Haiti, but rivers, cities and historical figures in France are all accurate. There’s a glossary in the back that corresponds to real life in Haiti. So why go to the effort of fictionalizing some, but not all?"
March 21, 2019 –
page 63
"Family is from Port-du-Roi instead of Port-au-Prince. Clever."
March 21, 2019 –
page 61
"Papa Fab (Fabien) bc he fought tuberculosis. Papa Doc (François) who was a doctor."
March 3, 2019 –
page 22
"“Tu viens de Quisqueya...tu es une boat people?”
To her mom-you never understood how I carried your country in my injured looks...when I tried to tell you about the bullying I faced you shit me down because it was nothing compared to the horrors you’d been through” (pg 23)."
March 2, 2019 –
page 19
"Mothers: common theme in Haitian lit
—widow thinks of her children and efforts to be a good mom, she was an orphan herself
—nurse thinks bitterly of her mother who lied about her father and scorned Haiti"
March 2, 2019 –
page 1
"—France country of Les droits de la personne
—When his son was kidnapped he ordered all school children to be kept in their schools & if his kid was harmed he’d kill all of those kids.
—wife calls husband le Défunt, not by his name
—no one has names so far"
March 1, 2019 –
page 12
"2 points of view:
-young nurse in regular font. Mother lived in “Quisqueya” under “Doréval” a dictator whose son succeeded him
-widow of the dictator in italics"
Then I read Saisons sauvages. Having read the student's weekly summaries and final project, I had a good sense of the characters and major themes already, but I wasn't prepared for the beauty of the writing.
[Spoilers ahead!] Nirvah, a young mother of two is married to a journalist who is arrested for speaking out against the Duvalier dictatorship. Time passes and she has no information so she appeals to the minister who oversees security, and by extension the tonton macoutes, Raoul. He is immediately taken with her and later propositions her. If she sleeps with him, he will try to find out info and protect her. She is repulsed by his appearance and terrorized by the impossibility of the situation. If she doesn't sleep with him, will she guarantee her husband is never freed? As time passes she enjoys the privilege that comes from sleeping with a wealthy, influential man. She likes having a man in her bed. She thinks about her husband, but accepts her new reality. She has no idea Raoul has seduced both her son and daughter. Slowly Raoul loses power and money and can no longer protect Nivrah, despite his best efforts. She plans an escape with the kids and is apprehended at the very end. The ending is bleak.
The subject matter is so hard to stomach, but I have no doubt it captured the reality for many Haitian families. It was hard to contemplate the impossible choice Nirvah made, but also to see the parallels to the current political bullshit happening under Trump in the US. He is moving us incrementally closer to a dictatorship too. Those who begin in his favor eventually fall from grace, just as Raoul did. It’s like world leaders are drinking the same koolaid recipe Duvalier, Mussolini, Hitler and others use.
Much of the writing was powerful and evocative. Mars used some beautiful imagery and subtle foreshadowing. She captured pain & anguish really well. I liked how Nirvah was the primary narrator but Raoul’s perspective was integral and her kids also had small but momentous moments to weigh in too. Mars also painted a clear picture of life under Duvalier and the role vodou plays in Haiti and played under his rule. I may return to that theme later and work up an article on the topic.
There was a lot to like so why did I hesitate to give it 5 stars in Goodreads? Maybe because the ending was open-ended but likely tragic? That’s so typical of the fatalist, spiralist theme in much of Haitian lit so it’s not fair of me to penalize the book just for that. I’m not sure why, but 5 just felt too high.
Other specific passages and ideas I noted:
June 15, 2019 –
page 290
"-waiting for Daniel and clinging to hope of seeing them was like anchoring a kite with cement
-being with Raoul was like being several different women. Nirvah didn’t know who she is anymore."
June 15, 2019 –
page 280
"Misc notes
-R invests in lwa to assure his power & wealth continue
-R seduced Nicolas in the same way Greek men did young men, to imitate and mentor them
-R is like all other Noirs who claim to support a black Haiti but leap at the chance to sleep w a mulâtresse
-"
June 12, 2019 –
page 103
"Raoul gives Nirvah jewelry and she looks at it thinking they call her, beckon her, look for her neck, earlobes & wrist like the tentacles of a formidable (redoutable) beast."
June 12, 2019 –
page 93
"Raoul thinks about Duvalier: all gratitude is weakness. The Duvalier principle is to bite the hand that feeds you, even the whole arm if necessary. If someone offers you help it’s because they feel sorry for you."
June 11, 2019 –
page 92
"Raoul is convinced the spasms he had after touching N were the result of vodou lwas protecting her. He notes he’s over due to pay homage to a spirit himself."
June 4, 2019 –
page 66
"Narration alternated between Nirvah & Raoul. He finishes chp 10 & foreshadows the cruelty and lies he will put her through."
June 4, 2019 –
page 65
"The minister has Contempt for mulâtres like Nirvah & her family"
May 31, 2019 –
page 50
"Nirvah has light skin but grew up without the wealth associated w it. She’s a hybrid: bourgeois sometimes, peuple others. Like Violaine."
May 31, 2019 –
page 46
"Déméplè is a lwa who uses a rattle (un asson). Nirvah knows it as an adj for having shady character but he is the neighbor’s lwa"
May 31, 2019 –
page 45
"Neighbor is a manbo and prostitute who sleeps w macoutes. Nirvah contacted bishop for help w husband but the church is as powerless against Duvalier as anyone else. I wonder how Mars will develop vodou in the novel."
May 29, 2019 –
page 22
"Raoul makes it clear he wants Nirvah because she is privileged and represents everything he couldn’t have. Possessing her means possessing those privileges. Typical male entitlement wrapped up in Haiti’s racial bullshit."
May 29, 2019 –
page 18
"His attitude was disconcerting. My presence seemed to leave him indifferent, but “j’ai surpris des lueurs fauves dans certains de sea regards.”
Lyrical description. Fauve evokes “sauvage” in the title."
May 29, 2019 –
page 20
"Il connaissait des femelles de toutes nuances d’épiderme qui se donnaient à lui pour rien, pour toucher seulement à son pouvoir.
Using “femelles” here conveys he sees women as animals, not people."
