Paule Constant is the author of several novels, including Trading Secrets, winner of the Prix Goncourt, and The Governor's Daughter, both published by the University of Nebraska Press. Betsy Wing has translated Constant's previous novels published by the University of Nebraska Press, as well as Édouard Glissant's The Fourth Century (Nebraska 2001) and Hélène Cixous's The Book of Promethea (Nebraska 1991).

"This straightforward yet surreal work is beautifully written. Almost every paragraph contains an original and elaborate word construction that never rings false. Wing, who has translated two previous novels by Constant, deserves recognition for her work."—Library Journal "Sad ironies illuminate this deftly mapped journey to the postcolonial heart of darkness. . . . With prose both dark and rollicking, Constant chronicles colonialism's terrible absurdities and reverberating effects on both Africans and Europeans."—Publishers Weekly "French novelist Constant, a Prix Goncourt winner, presents a whip-smart postcolonial satire. . . . Constant's mordantly funny novel is at once a brilliantly imagined and rambunctious inquiry into environmental havoc, our close ties to our primate cousins, adulterated religion, the mystique of whiteness, and the persistence of racism, and a piquant tale of survival and longing."—Booklist "A thoroughly odd and original book."—Trish Crapo, Women's Review of Books

Paule Constant is the author of several novels, including Trading Secrets, winner of the Prix Goncourt, and The Governor's Daughter, both published by the University of Nebraska Press. Betsy Wing has translated Constant's previous novels published by the University of Nebraska Press, as well as Édouard Glissant's The Fourth Century (Nebraska 2001) and Hélène Cixous's The Book of Promethea (Nebraska 1991).

"This straightforward yet surreal work is beautifully written. Almost every paragraph contains an original and elaborate word construction that never rings false. Wing, who has translated two previous novels by Constant, deserves recognition for her work."—Library Journal "Sad ironies illuminate this deftly mapped journey to the postcolonial heart of darkness. . . . With prose both dark and rollicking, Constant chronicles colonialism's terrible absurdities and reverberating effects on both Africans and Europeans."—Publishers Weekly "French novelist Constant, a Prix Goncourt winner, presents a whip-smart postcolonial satire. . . . Constant's mordantly funny novel is at once a brilliantly imagined and rambunctious inquiry into environmental havoc, our close ties to our primate cousins, adulterated religion, the mystique of whiteness, and the persistence of racism, and a piquant tale of survival and longing."—Booklist "A thoroughly odd and original book."—Trish Crapo, Women's Review of Books

Paule Constant is the author of several novels, including Trading Secrets, winner of the Prix Goncourt, and The Governor's Daughter, both published by the University of Nebraska Press. Betsy Wing has translated Constant's previous novels published by the University of Nebraska Press, as well as Édouard Glissant's The Fourth Century (Nebraska 2001) and Hélène Cixous's The Book of Promethea (Nebraska 1991).

"This straightforward yet surreal work is beautifully written. Almost every paragraph contains an original and elaborate word construction that never rings false. Wing, who has translated two previous novels by Constant, deserves recognition for her work."—Library Journal "Sad ironies illuminate this deftly mapped journey to the postcolonial heart of darkness. . . . With prose both dark and rollicking, Constant chronicles colonialism's terrible absurdities and reverberating effects on both Africans and Europeans."—Publishers Weekly "French novelist Constant, a Prix Goncourt winner, presents a whip-smart postcolonial satire. . . . Constant's mordantly funny novel is at once a brilliantly imagined and rambunctious inquiry into environmental havoc, our close ties to our primate cousins, adulterated religion, the mystique of whiteness, and the persistence of racism, and a piquant tale of survival and longing."—Booklist "A thoroughly odd and original book."—Trish Crapo, Women's Review of Books