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Alphabet of the Night
Author(s): Jean-Eulphèle Milcé (Author), Christopher Moncrieff (Translator)
- Publisher: Pushkin Press
- Publication Date: 27 April 2007
- Edition: Reprint
- Language: English
- Print length: 112 pages
- ISBN-10: 1901285766
- ISBN-13: 9781901285765
Book Description
Port-au-Prince, another dull morning tinged with violence and black magic. Jeremy Assaël, a Jewish shopkeeper, sees his friend and lover, Lucien, gunned down outside his shop by a vengeful policeman. In a Haiti that exists in the perpetual night of misery and oppression, Jeremy wonders if his only option is exile. His best friend from school, Fresnel, has disappeared in ominous circumstances. So he embarks on a quest to discover his fate. His search leads him to a corrupt pastor, a shady revolutionary and a voodoo priest. What is revealed is not only himself but contemporary Haiti, a land where everything and nothing is possible.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Jean-Euphèle Milcé lives in Port-au-Prince and has, it seems, survived the catastrophe. His novel Alphabet of the Night (Pushkin Press) captures the blended sensuality and sorrow of that accursed city. –BOYD TONKIN The Independent
Christopher Moncrieff’s fine translation effectively conveys this book’s heady, poetic style. Jean-Euphèle Milcé … his powerful and affecting first novel paints a terrifying picture of a society spiralling inexorably downwards. –CHRIS SCHULER The Independent
Milcé … has a style detached enough for clarity, but sufficiently angry to give his narrator a passionate driving force. NORA MAHOMY Times Literary Supplement — This is the understatement of poetry against horror. Not a single sentence leaves you feeling indifferent. –BERTIL GALLAND L’Arpenteur
About the Author
Jean-Eulphèle Milcéwas born in 1969 in Haiti. After studying Applied Linguistics at the State University of Haiti and training in Information and Library Management, he taught Creole literature and was Director of the National Library of Haiti. He has published several works in Creole and is co-founder of the literary magazine Lire Haiti. He lives in Haiti.
