"A wondrous novel" (New York Times) by the winner of the 2018 Alternative Nobel prize in literature (the New Academy Prize) The year is 1797, and the kingdom of Segu is flourishing, fed by the wealth of its noblemen and the power of its warriors. The people of Segu, the Bambara, are guided by their griots and priests; their lives are ruled by the elements. But even their soothsayers can only hint at the changes to come, for the battle of the soul of Africa has begun. From the east comes a new religion, Islam, and from the West, the slave trade.Segu follows the life of Dousika Traore, the king’s most trusted advisor, and his four sons, whose fates embody the forces tearing at the fabric of the nation. There is Tiekoro, who renounces his people’s religion and embraces Islam; Siga, who defends tradition, but becomes a merchant; Naba, who is kidnapped by slave traders; and Malobali, who becomes a mercenary and halfhearted Christian.
Based on actual events, Segu transports the reader to a fascinating time in history, capturing the earthy spirituality, religious fervor, and violent nature of a people and a growing nation trying to cope with jihads, national rivalries, racism, amid the vagaries of commerce.

Segu: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Condé, Maryse

United States

Penguin??Books

A powerful novel of Africa's history and the men and women who determined its fate. From the East came Islam. From the West, the slave trade. The battle for Africa's soul had begun... "A wondrous novel about a period of African history few other writers have addressed... Much of the novel's radiance comes from the lush descriptions of a traditional life that is both exotic and violent." -THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW "Segu is an overwhelming accomplishment. It injects into the density of history characters who are as alive as you and I. Passionate, lusty, greedy, they are in conflict with themselves as well as with God and Mammon. Maryse Conde has done us all a tremendous service by rendering history so compelling and exciting. Segu is a literary masterpiece I could not put down." -LOUISE MERIWETHER

Genre Fiction

Random House Publishing Group

"It is impossible to read her novels and not come away from them with both a sadder and more exhilarating understanding of the human heart." - THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Rapidly shifting between Guadeloupe and Harlem, moving from Haiti's desperate slums to the exclusive enclaves of the Parisian upper class, this deeply personal tale traces one Guadeloupe family's rise from poverty to riches through several generations. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Tree of Life: A Novel of the Caribbean

Contemporary

Ballantine Books

From Publishers Weekly\nThis sequel to Segu concerns the 19th-century tribal wars, Islamic conquest and French occupation of the African kingdom, focusing on characters with kinship bonds to the Traore family. "Male characters supply the dominant points of views; women are seen as objects. Exhaustive scholarship . . . suffocates the narrative," PW complained. 
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Children of Segu

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science Fiction

"Stunning...Maryse Conde's imaginative subversion of historical records forms a critque of contemporary American society and its ingrained racism and sexism." THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE At the age of seven, Tituba watched as her mother was hanged for daring to wound a plantation owner who tried to rape her. She was raised from then on by Mama Yaya, a gifted woman who shared with her the secrets of healing and magic. But it was Tituba's love of the slave John Indian that led her from safety into slavery, and the bitter, vengeful religion practiced by the good citizens of Salem, Massachusetts. Though protected by the spirits, Tituba could not escape the lies and accusations of that hysterical time. As history and fantasy merge, Maryse Conde, acclaimed author of TREE OF LIFE and SEGU, creates the richly imagined life of a fascinating woman.

I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem

Literary

"It is impossible to read her novels and not come away from them with both a sadder and more exhilarating understanding of the human heart." - THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Rapidly shifting between Guadeloupe and Harlem, moving from Haiti's desperate slums to the exclusive enclaves of the Parisian upper class, this deeply personal tale traces one Guadeloupe family's rise from poverty to riches through several generations.

Tree of Life

Season in Rhiata

Heinemann

A season in Rihata (Caribbean writers series)

Windward Heights (Faber Caribbean Series)

Faber&Faber

The year is 1797, and the kingdom of Segu is flourishing, fed by the wealth of its noblemen and the power of its warriors. The people of Segu, the Bambara, are guided by their griots and priests; their lives are ruled by the elements. But even their soothsayers can only hint at the changes to come, for the battle of the soul of Africa has begun. From the east comes a new religion, Islam, and from the West, the slave trade. 
 Segu follows the life of Dousika Traore, the king’s most trusted advisor, and his four sons, whose fates embody the forces tearing at the fabric of the nation. There is Tiekoro, who renounces his people’s religion and embraces Islam; Siga, who defends tradition, but becomes a merchant; Naba, who is kidnapped by slave traders; and Malobali, who becomes a mercenary and halfhearted Christian. 
 Based on actual events, Segu transports the reader to a fascinating time in history, capturing the earthy spirituality, religious fervor, and violent nature of a people and a growing nation trying to cope with jihads, national rivalries, racism, amid the vagaries of commerce.

Segu

Viking Adult

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Condé, Maryse. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Condé, Maryse

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Condé, Maryse. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Segu: A Novel

Segu: A Novel

Tree of Life: A Novel of the Caribbean

The Children of Segu

I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem

Tree of Life

Season in Rhiata

A season in Rihata (Caribbean writers series)

Windward Heights (Faber Caribbean Series)

Segu