By Night the Mountain Burns recounts the narrator's childhood on a remote island
off the West African coast, living with his mysterious grandfather, several
mothers and no fathers. We learn of a dark chapter in the island's history: a
bush fire destroys the crops, then hundreds perish in a cholera outbreak.
Superstition dominates, and the islanders must sacrifice their possessions to
the enraged ocean god. What of their lives will they manage to save?
Whitmanesque in its lyrical evocation of the island, Ávila Laurel's writing
builds quietly, through the oral rhythms of traditional storytelling, into
gripping drama worthy of an Achebe or a García Márquez.
Main title:
By Night the Mountain Burns
Creator:
Juan Tomas Avila Laurel, author
Date Published:
2014
Language:
English
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