This is an intoxicating tale of love and wonder, mothers and daughters, spiritual values and the grim legacy of slavery on the French Antillean island of Guadeloupe. Here long-suffering Telumee tells her life story and tells us about the proud line of Lougandor women she continues to draw strength from. Time flows unevenly during the long hot blue days as the madness of the island swirls around the villages, and Telumee, raised in the shelter of wide skirts, must learn how to navigate the adversities of a peasant community, the ecstasies of love, and domestic realities while arriving at her own precious happiness. In the words of Toussine, the wise, tender grandmother who raises her, "Behind one pain there is another. Sorrow is a wave without end. But the horse mustn't ride you, you must ride it." A masterpiece of Caribbean literature, The Bridge of Beyond relates the triumph of a generous and hopeful spirit, while offering a gorgeously lush, imaginative depiction of the flora, landscape, and customs of Gua--deloupe. Simone Schwarz-Bart's incantatory prose, interwoven with Creole proverbs and lore, appears here in a remarkable translation by Barbara Bray.

Great-granddaughter of Minerve, first woman of the Guadeloupean branch of the Lougandor family to be freed from slavery in 1848, the elderly Telumee tells the story of her own difficult life and that of her ancestors. It is a poor black woman's tale of heroic survival, set in the early 20th century, harsh agrarian environment of a Caribbean island. Through the richly imaged narration of a constantly evolving, cultural significant and always entertaining saga, the author leads the reaer into her native West Indian realm of legends, magic, folkloric wisdom and traditional reverence for the elderly and the past. Her protagonist, Telumee, embodies the innate strength and nobility of women in general and of black Caribbean women in particular. Published in 1972, this book received Elle magazine's literary prize. This edition reflects the editor's personal acquaintance with the author, and her country. It provides a synthesis of the latest critical studies, and a thorough interpretation of Creole terms, symbolic imagery and a unique cultural background.