I found this story a slow start, but it picked up and became quite engrossing. However, the ending was a tad too neat and tidy...

Kevin Pierce's narration is good, although a bit slow - I ended up listening to the audiobook at 2x speed. I especially liked the way he did the slight accents for the Haitian natives. ( )

This classic 1955 novel set in Haiti is a mixed bag of good to mediocre writing, realistic snippets of every day Haitian life, and observations on racism and religious domination and co-operation. I enjoyed reading it yet was well aware of its limitations. Though Cave's intention is to defy racism and religious domination, it is not always clear that the author himself is free of all racist assumptions, and he definitely supports the idea that Christianity is a more healthy life choice than Vodou, in some ways. Yet that he was even considering that Vodou had anything to offer, that Haitians had anything to complain about with missionaries, was pretty powerful stuff especially at the time it came out. If one missionary read this book and questioned some of his or her assumptions, it would have done its job. So kudoes to Cave. Apart from that, it is a well plotted, interesting story with a bit of woodeness that is made up for by all of the ways it flows well and fascinates. ( )