Böcker av Madison Smartt Bell

"A serious historical novel that reads like a dream." --The Washington Post Book World"One of the most spohisticated fictional treatments of the enduring themes of class, color, and freedom." --San Francisco ChronicleNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTPEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST This first installment of the epic Haitian trilogy brings to life a decisive moment in the history of race, class, and colonialism. The slave uprising in Haiti was a momentous contribution to the tide of revolution that swept over the Western world at the end of the 1700s. A brutal rebellion that strove to overturn a vicious system of slavery, the uprising successfully transformed Haiti from a European colony to the world's first Black republic. From the center of this horrific maelstrom, the heroic figure of Toussaint Louverture-a loyal, literate slave and both a devout Catholic and Vodouisant-emerges as the man who will take the merciless fires of violence and vengeance and forge a revolutionary war fueled by liberty and equality. Bell assembles a kaleidoscopic portrait of this seminal movement through a tableau of characters that encompass black, white, male, female, rich, poor, free and enslaved. Pulsing with brilliant detail, All Soul's Rising provides a visceral sense of the pain, terror, confusion, and triumph of revolution.

Two small-time thieves get in over their heads in this literary thriller from the ';virtuoso novelist' and author of Soldier's Joy (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Not quite at home in the backwoods of Tennessee, and even less suited for the service, drifter Macrae lands on his feet in New York City in the 1980s. There, he teams up with a petty thief named Charlie, and the two hit on a scheme to rob people withdrawing money at ATMs. Caught up by their surprising success, they move on to bigger crimes. But as Macrae feels a growing discomfort with the increasing violence and danger of their hardscrabble existence, he wonders if he's in too deep to make a clean break. With a tightly orchestrated and harrowing conclusion from ';one of our most talented novelists... This meticulously observed story nevertheless grips us with its lucid prose, its keen psychological insights and the author's respect for his troubled characters' (Publishers Weekly). ';A remarkable read.' The New York Times Book Review ';Bell seems to know intimately the seedy sides of New York, Baltimore and the ex-urban south of housing developments and shopping centers abutting old, dying farms. He renders each locale exquisitely and seems as familiar with street jive as redneck vernacular.' Los Angeles Times ';Ripe for translation to the silver screen.' Library Journal

A Vietnam vet returns to rural Tennessee in this acclaimed novel from the National Book Awardnominated author of Save Me, Joe Louis. After the horrors of Vietnam, Thomas Laidlaw returns to his home in rural Tennessee where he spends his days raising sheep and growing vegetables. At night he likes to roam the quiet countryside and practice his banjo, revelling in the roots music he finds so grounding. Over time, he resumes his friendship with Rodney Redmon, a fellow vet and childhood friend scarred not only by the wages of war, but also by the deep wounds of racism. As the two friends piece together a new life as civilians, they also piece together a band with the addition of a fiddler. Through a masterful accumulation of details, Bell brings his story to a fever pitch, concluding in ';an unexpected, if powerful, finale' (Publishers Weekly). ';This important, insightful novel' (Library Journal) proves once again that ';every sentence [Bell] writes is a joy. His power is exhilarating' (The New Yorker). ';Bell's impressive talents as a writer, which include endowing settings with the significance of character, and a patient, compassionate probing of injured souls, are on full display.' Publishers Weekly