This latest (1992) of Guadeloupean Condr's several chronicles of
native Africa's encounter with the modern world is, like such
predecessors as Segu (1987) and Tree of Life (1992), impassioned,
impressively detailed, and a bit too schematic to fully engage a
reader's sympathies. In tracing the dispersal of a noble African
family who scatter in exile throughout the US and Caribbean, Conde
ironically contrasts the enervated life of Spero Jules-Juliette, a
painter unhappily married to a black American academic, to both
their daughter's journey to Africa in search of her origins and to
the more heroic trials endured by Spero's ancestors. But the
parallels are labored, and the characters never come to life. Conde
has essentially written this novel before, and undoubtedly will do
so again. (Kirkus Reviews)
"The Last of the African Kings" follows the wayward fortunes of a
noble African family. It begins with the regal Behanzin, an African
king who opposed French colonialism and was exiled to distant
Martinique. In the course of this brilliant novel, Maryse Conde
tells of Behanzin's scattered offspring and their lives in the
Caribbean and the United States. A book made up of many characters
and countless stories, "The Last of the African Kings" skillfully
intertwines the themes of exile, lost origins, memory, and hope. It
is set mainly in the Americas, from the Caribbean to modern-day
South Carolina, yet Africa hovers always in the background.
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