The Story of the Cannibal Woman

November 27, 2006
Caribbean author Condé (Crossing the Mangrove
) makes one woman's search for identity a vehicle to explore a vast range of racial, cultural and gender issues in a seething novel that exposes the violent ferment of postapartheid South Africa. Rosélie Thibaudin's travels and travails have led her from Guadeloupe, the island of her birth, to Paris, London, Tokyo and, finally, Cape Town. With the mysterious murder of her white husband, Stephen Stewart, the son of an English father and a French mother, Rosélie, whose self-doubt is almost paralyzing, is suddenly without the support that has kept her going for 20 years. Her resolve to stay in Cape Town in order not to abandon her slain husband forces her to adapt and to re-examine her past. As the secrets of Stephen's life unravel, Rosélie's self-examination becomes more painful and rewarding. This literary novel with its multicultural themes may disappoint those expecting a conventional murder thriller.