Under the bone

Under the Bone is a harrowing, evocative tale of political intrigue and violence in post-Duvalier Haiti. Against the backdrop of electoral tensions, the novel opens with the discovery of a corpse, outside Port-au-Prince, by Elysse Voltaire, a young Haitian woman who is later framed for murder. Her plight, and that of Ti Cedric, a missing peasant activist, become the focus of an investigation by Leslie Doyle, an American human-rights worker, aided by a circle of Haitian.

Advocates. Leslie's journey leads her from the houses ransacked by the Tontons Macoutes - Haiti's death squads - to killing fields, hospitals, prisons, and, finally to the truth. At once a mystery and a chronicle of hope and despair in the world's first black republic, Under the Bone weaves a range of narrative to present a vivid, compelling picture of life in contemporary Haiti. Lyrical, haunting, and streaked with black humor, under the Bone marks the debut of a gifted.

Young novelist and an astute observer of the human condition.