Caribbean novelist Condé (Windward Heights) discloses her complex childhood in her native Guadaloupe and in Paris, and celebrates imagination and youthful defiance in this short, heartfelt memoir. A surprise pregnancy and the youngest of eight children, Condé was fearful that she "had not been desired." The young girl underwent a startling transformation from a shy, polite youngster to a problem child as she watched her Francophile parents turn their backs on all things non-Western and adopt a superior attitude toward neighbors. With a vivid memory for mood and details, Condé recalls the moral decline of her older brother, Sandrino, her torturous days in grade school and painful incidents stemming from her parents' insensitivity, such as firing the faithful family servant, Madonne, when she took a day off to care for her gravely ill daughter, who later died. Condé's other losses include the departure of Gilbert, her first love; the souring of her closest friendship; and the death of Mabo Julie, her family's beloved maid. She recollects a childhood boyfriend whose love letter, copied from a novel, rhapsodized inaccurately about her "blue eyes." While her astute portrait of her paranoid, class-conscious parents is unsparing, Condé waxes poetic and nostalgic about her native country, offering an exciting travelogue that rivals anything in the glossies. Upon reaching the final page and the start of Condé's journey to adulthood, readers will regret that this brief, colorful and lively remembrance has ended, although a second volume is promised and eagerly awaited. (Oct.)
