The Boiling Season

January 2, 2012
On an unnamed Caribbean island, where lighter skin affords greater economioc stability, Alexandre, a boy from the slums, is hired as a servant to Senator Marcus, a powerful local politician. Alexandre becomes a household favorite thanks to the education his shopkeeper father sacrificed to give him, in the hope that Alexandre would “give back” as a doctor or lawyer, but Alexandre has “no aptitude for being a champion of the people.” Through his friendship with M. Guinee, an aging manager of the island capital’s grand hotel, Alexandre is introduced to the Habitation Louvois, a spectacular estate in arrested decay deep in the countryside. Mme. Freeman, a wealthy American businesswoman, buys the property and hires Alexandre as the manager, turning the property into a world-class resort. But as the island drifts into civil unrest and revolutionary chaos, Alexandre’s Shangri-La becomes more and more isolated and threatened by crowds of the poor from a violent shantytown that springs up outside the hotel gates. Alexandre as narrator, timid and unquestioning, lends a vagueness that undermines the exciting potential of the novel’s premise. Why, for instance, is the wealthy Mme. Freeman choosing a politically crumbling country to vacation in; how has the unguarded palatial Habitation Louvois remained undisturbed for 20 years; and what of Alexandre’s unexamined asexuality? Not fable-like enough to be so coy, Hebert’s debut is too windy to fashion thrills out of the gun battles and revolution, although there are poignant touches, particularly in the final third, as Alexandre reacts to the estate’s irreversible decay. But without dates, backstories, and understandings of the principal characters’ motivations, it’s a pretty tepid thriller. Agent: Bill Clegg, WME Entertainment.

January 1, 2012
A determined entrepreneur gets the opportunity to build his own private asylum in the midst of a country in turmoil. Drawing deep inspiration from Caribbean literature, particularly Haiti, debut novelist Hebert makes a fine first attempt at invention with a story that feels steeped in both colonialism and modern strife. The book is set in an unnamed Caribbean island populated by natives, mulattoes, third-world revolutionaries and corrupt politicians. The inescapable narrator is Alexandre, the son of a shopkeeper, who is determined not to descend into the poverty and violence that marks his homeland. Through loyalty and dignified service, the boy becomes a valued valet to Senator Marcus, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men on the island. One Sunday, the assistant manager of the country's most exclusive hotels takes Alexandre to see a dilapidated country estate that will soon become both refuge and rationalization for the ambitious young man. Soon after, a wealthy white businesswoman out of her element buys the property and hires Alexandre to restore it to its richest state. Over the course of several years, Alexandre builds Habitation Louvois into an obscenely opulent resort that accents the bitter divide between the country's wealthy tourists and the shantytowns that mark its true nature. When the country's president dies, the new leader finds himself defending the country's infrastructure from hordes of armed gangs. Alexandre completely retreats into his new life, shunning his father and former friends and living in a state of denial that borders on madness. "What is this war you keep talking about?" he says in one outburst. "Wars have battles and campaigns. This is just shooting. This is nothing but mindless, brutal violence. This is a power struggle, nothing more." With echoes of Marie Vieux Chauvet and Isak Dinesen, Hebert demonstrates an ambition and clarity of vision that is rare in a first novel. A rich, synthesized imagining of the personal history of a country torn asunder.

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February 1, 2012
Hebert's debut examines the troubled political landscape of a conflict-ridden Caribbean country through the equally troubled and troubling emotional landscape of one of its citizens. Alexandre grew up in a tumbledown slum and is determined to leave behind its filthy, violent streets. He lands a job with a senator in a wealthy mansion overlooking the city and happily abandons his poor neighborhood, family, and friends. In the constantly shifting political climate, however, Alexandre flees to escape a coup, then further distances himself by working as a grounds manager renovating an abandoned estate, a luxurious green oasis in an otherwise dun brown country. But political strife and violence soon bubble up around the gated sanctuary. While his treasured estate crumbles around him, Alexandre struggles with his connection to people he sees only as ignorant rabble. Hebert conjures a vibrant atmosphere, as rich a character as any inhabitant, whether in the fetid stink of the slums or the cool, detached opulence of the most affluent homes, and each locale is made more striking by the close proximity of the other.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)