When writers become obsessed with their subject matter, the final result can come out as relentless raving, or, as in this case, develop into total and uncompromising immersion.This second volume of Bell's Toussaint Louverture trilogy is as thoroughly mesmerizing as the first. Covering an eight-year period beginning two years after the 1791 uprising, it offers an informed and fascinating portrait of the genesis of the nation of Haiti, and its charismatic and visionary leader, Toussaint Louverture, the Black Spartacus himself. Peopled with many of the same fictional and historical characters inhabiting the first volume, this second novel continues their stories and destinies in a climate of transition - unstable yet pregnant with possibilities. Blood still flows, to be sure, but the thundering chaos of the first novel has been channelled into a more focused force through Toussaint's strategic political and military maneuverings.A little disclosure here: I'm not usually the most avid fan of epic historical fiction, nor am I particularly keen on reading about warring factions, battling troops and rising levels of testosterone. But although the novel never skirts the military aspect (there's plenty of that) Bell has upped the level to much more than blow-by-blow heroics. He digs deep into the workings of his characters' minds, and their conflicted reactions to an evolving situation; there is questioning but no easy answers. The individual characters and their stories meander and branch out, split, divide, slide by, collide, touch and unite, almost organically, in a collective mutation.The writing is as elegant as ever, alternately dream-like and chiseled. No skimming to be done here, (and why would you want to, it's all good!) since there are so many subtle changes in tone from one passage to the next, and so many gems of insight embedded in even the most violent (or the most seemingly anodyne) descriptions that might be missed by hasty reading.One small problem: the myriad of events and characters, fictional or not, can be a source of confusion. I finally broke down (after 200 pages or so of resisting - "I can keep it all in my head!" or so I thought)) and charted out an index card of who's who for the invented characters. Thankfully, Bell has included a detailed chronology of historical events (which I thumbed to death) as well as a glossary, a map, and the original versions of Toussaint's letters (sweet bonus) and other documentsA magisterial and resonant work; it has given me no choice but to continue with the third volume:The Stone That the Builder Refused
This book is dense and intense, demanding a lot from the reader (keeping French and Creole slang straight and managing a pretty complex cast of characters against a rapidly changing historical backdrop.) The investment of energy and intellectual effort to understand Haiti c. 1791-1802 is worth it, and I think the author does an incredible job of deftly relating details of social, military, and economic life at that time. I didn't find it to be transcendent, but I feel certainly more well educated having read it.
What do You think about Master Of The Crossroads (2004)?
Just o.kI read the first book in this series and was completely amazed at how good it was. Maybe my high expectations for the second part got the best of me but this was genuinely a huge letdown. I will read the last book in the trilogy because the good parts this book were really good and I got attached to the characters. The bad parts though were really bad. He said in 5 pages what could have been said in one, drew out a lot of scenes and it was very distracting constantly referencing the glossary.
—Heather G
Part 2 of Smartt Bell's sprawling factional book about the Haitian Revolution as seen through the eyes of physician Antoine Herbert contiunes. The doctor has been on the island eight years, arriving in 1791 in search of his sister. In this sequel, Louverture has militarily, for the most part, secured the island. The military victories are done through brute force and political cunning with the Jacobins of France, the British and Spanish governments, all of whom are intent in squashing the slave rebellion by any means necessary. Sadly, the quest to end slavery also forces Louverture into civil war with the mulattos, who have their own view separate and unequal with their slave brothers."Master of the Crossroads" is all about decision making --- the risks to take militarily, politically and personally, not only for Louverture, but also for the doctor, his sister, her husband and significant minor characters such as Riau, a former slave on the Breda plantation.
—Lydia
