Port-au-Prince, the 1960s: Duvalier and his militia are systematically eliminating opponents to the regime. Daniel Leroy, editor in chief of the opposition newspaper, has just been arrested. To find out what has become of him, his wife, Nirvah, visits Raoul Vincent, secretary of state at the Office of Public Safety. This fearsome head of the secret police is instantly smitten, and to ensure her husband's survival and protect her family, Nirvah submits to the official's desires. Becoming the mistress of a strongman in the regime is not without its benefits. Still, she has to endure her neighbors' inquisitive looks and the silent questions of her own children.
Kettly Mars's Savage Seasons describes a pivotal and painful period in Haitian history by weaving together two stories: the personal story of Nirvah and her family and the universal story of Duvalier's dictatorial regime and its abuses.
Kettly Mars was born in 1958 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she resides today. She is the author of three novels and two story collections. Jeanine Herman is a translator for Artforum magazine and has translated the works of numerous authors, most recently Julia Kristeva's Hatred and Forgiveness and Eric Laurrent's Do Not Touch. Herman is a chevalier in the French Order of Arts and Letters. Madison Smartt Bell is a professor of English at Goucher College and is known for his trilogy of novels about the Haitian Revolution.