Victoire: My Mother's Mother
Jan 2010 · Sold by Simon and Schuster
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About this ebook
From the winner of the New Academy Prize in Literature (the alternative to the Nobel Prize) and critically acclaimed author of the classic historical novel Segu, Maryse Condé has pieced together the life of her maternal grandmother to create a moving and profound novel.
Maryse Condé’s personal journey of discovery and revelation becomes ours as we learn of Victoire, her white-skinned mestiza grandmother who worked as a cook for the Walbergs, a family of white Creoles, in the French Antilles.
Using her formidable skills as a storyteller, Condé describes her grandmother as having “Australian whiteness for the color of her skin...She jarred with my world of women in Italian straw bonnets and men necktied in three-piece linen suits, all of them a very black shade of black. She appeared to me doubly strange.”
Victoire was spurred by Condé’s desire to learn of her family history, resolving to begin her quest by researching the life of her grandmother. While uncovering the circumstances of Victoire’s unique life story, Condé also comes to grips with a haunting question: How could her own mother, a black militant, have been raised in the Walberg’s home, a household of whites?
Creating a work that takes you into a time and place populated with unforgettable characters that inspire and amaze, Condé’s blending of memoir and imagination, detective work and storytelling artistry, is a literary gem that you won’t soon forget.
Maryse Condé’s personal journey of discovery and revelation becomes ours as we learn of Victoire, her white-skinned mestiza grandmother who worked as a cook for the Walbergs, a family of white Creoles, in the French Antilles.
Using her formidable skills as a storyteller, Condé describes her grandmother as having “Australian whiteness for the color of her skin...She jarred with my world of women in Italian straw bonnets and men necktied in three-piece linen suits, all of them a very black shade of black. She appeared to me doubly strange.”
Victoire was spurred by Condé’s desire to learn of her family history, resolving to begin her quest by researching the life of her grandmother. While uncovering the circumstances of Victoire’s unique life story, Condé also comes to grips with a haunting question: How could her own mother, a black militant, have been raised in the Walberg’s home, a household of whites?
Creating a work that takes you into a time and place populated with unforgettable characters that inspire and amaze, Condé’s blending of memoir and imagination, detective work and storytelling artistry, is a literary gem that you won’t soon forget.
From the winner of the New Academy Prize in Literature (the alternative to the Nobel Prize) and critically acclaimed author of the classic historical novel Segu, Maryse Condé has pieced together the life of her maternal grandmother to create a moving and profound novel.
Maryse Condé’s personal j...
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Ratings and reviews
1 review
A Google user
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June 21, 2010
Conde researches her grandmother & the story that is her history is interesting. It takes you back to a time where people's rights are not what they are today & where the abuse of women is normal & nothing to blink an eye at.
We see Victoire & how she is brought into the world, how she stands out from everyone else due to the color of her skin & how her grandmother loved & raised her. We then see the journey of Victoire's life & the different paths it takes, good & bad... & ultimately leads to the birth of Conde's own mother.
Honestly, parts of this story sickened me at the way people were original treated & how belittled they were. And I did find parts of the story hard to keep up with, only because it was originally written in French & this book is translated by Richard Philcox. There are whole paragraphs that are still in French, so I was lost at these sections. Even phrases used or certain words in French had me a little confused. I even had to keep a sheet next to me with the names written down because they were so confusing & it was easy for me to get people mixed up...Dernier, Danila, Fulgence, Gaetane, Caldonia... all samples of names in the book...
If you are interested in history, you will appreciate this book
About the author
Maryse Condé was an award-winning novelist, critic, and playwright. Her novels include Crossing the Mangrove, Segu, Who Slashed Celanire's Throat?, and I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem. Her work has been translated into many languages all over the world, and she was awarded the New Academy Prize in Literature (the alternative to the Nobel Prize) in 2018. She passed away in 2024 at the age of ninety.
Maryse Condé was an award-winning novelist, critic, and playwright. Her novels include Crossing the Mangrove, Segu, Who Slashed Celanire's Throat?, and I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem. Her work has been translated into many languages all over the world, and she was awarded the New Academy Prize i...
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