When Helene is packing up her belongings in readiness for her imminent move and marriage, she unearths a faded old exercise book. As she reads she cannot anticipate the effect it will have upon her own future. It is the diary of Juletane, a young West Indian woman. Written over three weeks, it records her short life; her lonely childhood in France, her marriage to an African student, and her eager return, with him, to Africa -- the land of her ancestors. In stark contrast to her naive illusions, the social realities of traditional Muslim life and their cultural demands on her as a woman threaten to drive her to unendurable extremes of loneliness and complete alienation. She is a foreigner, in spite of the color of her skin.

Juletane (Caribbean Writers Series)

Literature & Fiction

Myriam Warner-Vieyra

Contemporary

Heinemann

As the Sorcerer Said (Drumbeat)

Longman

In this powerful and moving novel, Myriam Warner-Vieyra sensitively portrays the complexities of cross-cultural relationships and, in particular, the female predicament. When Helene, a self-reliant career woman, is packing her belongings for a move and imminent marriage for which she is reluctant, she unearths a faded old book. It is the diary of young Juletane, a confused, sheltered West Indian woman struggling to find herself. Written over three weeks, it records her short life: childhood in France, marriage to an African student, and an eager return with him to Africa, the land of her ancestors. It is Juletane's diary that brings her and Helene together.
 Juletane does not fit into her husband's traditional African family, especially the Muslim cultural demands of polygamy. Full of gentle ironies, Juletane is a story about alienation, madness, shattered dreams: the disillusioned West Indian outsider's disenchantment with Africa. Myriam Warner-Vieyra looks at women's lives, at the paths they have taken, at the possibilities open to women in the Caribbean, in Africa, in life. She forces readers, through the double narrative of Juletane and Helene, to reexamine easy assumptions, to look again at safe generalizations. Includes valuable Introduction 2014 by the translator.
 Other titles by African and Caribbean writers from Waveland Press:
 Ba (trans. Bodé-Thomas), So Long a Letter (ISBN 9781577668060); Brodber, Jane and Louisa Will Soon Come Home (ISBN 9781478622840); Brodber, Myal (ISBN 9781478623113); Hodge, Crick, Crack Monkey (ISBN 9781478606598); and Lovelace, The Wine of Astonishment (ISBN 9781478611271).

Juletane

Literary

Waveland Press. Inc.

Societe Nouvelle Presence Africaine

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