Author Patrick Chamoiseau's (sham-wah-ZOHZ) home island of Martinique was irrevocably changed by the abolition of slavery over a century and a half ago...and the migration of former plantation slaves to the city is the focus of his novel. Originally written in a mixture of French and Creole, it won France's most prestigious literary award--the Prix-Goncourt (PREE-gonn-CORE) --in 1992, and has just been translated into English. Alan Cheuse has a review. (STATIONS: "Texaco" will be published at the end of February by Pantheon.)
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