A review by yesenianavaa
Crossing the Mangrove by Maryse Condé

4.0

This is my second time reading this story, I read it in 2016. It seemed a little less interesting and more difficult this second time to read, but I still enjoyed it. I had written a paper about this book when I first read it and I still connected with a lot of the topics that i mentioned. Francis Sancher provided for many people the idea of freedom and escape. No one really knew much about him and even those that had a "intimate" relationship with him spoke about how he kept them at a distance. The novel is separated into two parts and is separated by the patriarchs of the two families. To many people Francis gave them purpose or value. We see colorism and how Mira with her light skin is simultaneously seen more beautiful cause of it and is reviled because of it. Most of the chapters end with the characters leaving physically or mentally. A lot of them are under unfortunate circumstances and they use Francis' death as the catalyst to impose change into their lives. We explore desire in a lot of the women: sexual desire. Lack of love is a common motif we see between mothers and daughters, daughters and fathers. The story ends with a chapter led by Xantippe. throughout the book many of the characters are scared of him and his intense black skin. He continues to haunt Francis even during his dreams. It is understood that Francis' family is from Guadeloupe and that somewhere down the line they owned slaves and a plantation. Francis understands that his death is necessary to complete the cycle of curses on his family from this atrocity. Through this we explore slavery and the legacy of how it impacts and defines the history of a race of people and a country.