Land of Many Colors and Nanna-YA -- Maryse Condé

<i>Land of Many Colors</i> is set in the fictional city of Fort Pilote in the French Caribbean. It opens with the deaths of a young liberation activist and his mother in 1984. The narrator, a doctor who handles both of these cases, attempts to reconstruct the history of the family through four generations. The doctor's account illuminates the political and social complexities of race and class distinctions, the legacy of French colonialism that has spawned the movement for independence. Set in Jamaica, <i>Nanna-ya</i> explores the relationships that develop between George, a well-to-do store-owner, his wife, Grace, and his lover, Joyce. Their intertwined histories touch on a variety of racial and gender themes, which are handled with uncommon insight and subtlety. Like <i>Land of Many Colors</i>, <i>Nanna-ya</i> explores the difficulty of reconstructing historical narratives and recovering the experiences of people of color in the Caribbean.<br><br><b>Author:</b> Maryse Conde<br><b>Publisher:</b> Bison<br><b>Published:</b> 03/01/1999<br><b>Pages:</b> 113<br><b>Binding Type:</b> Paperback<br><b>Weight:</b> 0.36lbs<br><b>Size:</b> 7.93h x 5.32w x 0.39d<br><b>ISBN:</b> 9780803263956<br><br><b>Review Citation(s): </b><br><i>Library Journal</i> 06/01/1999 pg. 180<br><i>Booklist</i> 04/15/1999<br><p><b>About the Author</b><br>Born in Guadeloupe in 1937, Maryse Condé has lived in Africa and traveled throughout the world. She first won international acclaim for <i>Children of Segu</