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Black Shack Alley
Black Shack Alley | Joseph Zobel
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The semiautobiographical Caribbean novel that explores shifting race relations in early twentieth-century colonial Martinique, with a foreword by Martinican author Patrick Chamoiseau A Penguin Classic Following in the tradition of Richard Wright's Black Boy, Joseph Zobel's semiautobiographical 1950 novel Black Shack Alley chronicles the coming-of-age of José, a young boy grappling with issues of power and identity in colonial Martinique. As José transitions from childhood to young adulthood and from rural plantations to urban Fort-de-France on a quest for upward mobility, he bears witness to and struggles against the various manifestations of white supremacy, both subtle and overt, that will alter the course of his life. His ally in this struggle is his grandmother, M'man Tine, who fights her own weariness to release at least one child from the plantation village, a dirt street lined with the shacks of sugarcane workers. Zobel's masterpiece, the basis for the award-winning film Sugar Cane Alley directed by Euzhan Palcy, is a powerful testament to twentieth-century life in Martinique, with a foreword by award-winning Martinican author Patrick Chamoiseau.
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Black Shack Alley | Joseph Zobel
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When José is growing up, slavery has been abolished on #Martinique but many of the black residents still survive in slavery-like conditions. We see him growing up first with his grandmother then his mother and the juxtaposition of reality aside the frequent joy of being a child. This edition had some critiques with it that really added to the story. I often don‘t like childhood stories, but this one worked for me.

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Librarybelle Great review! 1y
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La Rue Cases-Negres | Joseph Zobel
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I was hesitating between this one and the Pratchett reflections... And I know that at one point I just have to read this even if it is probably not a happy book. so here I go.

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