cover image Under the Bone

Under the Bone

Anne-christine d'Adesky, Anne-Christine D'Adesky. Farrar Straus Giroux, $23 (371pp) ISBN 978-0-374-28066-6

With a plot that sadly mirrors current political turmoil, this fiercely lyrical first novel is set against a backdrop of post-Duvalier Haiti, where violent rival cliques compete for power. Falsely accused of murder, the pregnant Elyse Voltaire is thrown in jail; another Haitian, peasant activist Cedric George also disappears, the victim of kidnappers or assassins. Leading the search for these missing persons are Elyse's lawyer, Gerard Metellus (who is also secretly working with U.S. officials to track down the Duvaliers' hidden loot); Leslie Doyle, an American human rights worker visiting Haiti to compile an oral history of persecuted women; and Emmanuel, a parish priest opposed to the ultraconservative church establishment. D'Adesky, who is of French and Haitian descent, has reported on Haiti for the San Francisco Examiner and the Nation . She interleaves her story with memos, letters, interior monologues, documents and even a playlet exposing Haiti's corrupt courts, all of which adds verisimilitude but blunts the narrative momentum. Still, this is an impressive debut and disturbingly in sync with today's headlines. (Feb.)