Waiting for the Waters to Rise (2010) by Maryse Conde

Book Review

Waiting for the Waters to Rise (2010)

by Maryse Conde

   Maryse Conde is a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature (which is  being announced later this week).  Like many non-English language writers with top international profiles, her record of being translated into English is spotty.  Take Waiting for the Waters to Rise, originally published in French in 2010, the English translation came out last year and got nominated for the National Book Award for translated fiction longlist (it didn't make the shortlist, announced this week.)  I'm baffled by the shortlist omission- I thought Waiting for the Waters to Rise was a real banger.  Babakar, the protagonist, is an obstetrician living in the French overseas (Caribbean) territory of Guadelope,  As the book reveals, he has an interesting history, born in Mali to a mixed Malian/French couple, he moves to Mauritania to practice as a doctor, only to be sucked into a civil war.  He relocates to Guadelope, where the beginning of the book finds him spontaneously adopting the orphaned newborn of an illegal Haitian immigrant who dies in childbirth.

  Eventually he finds his way to Haiti, where Conde does an amazing job of portraying the day-to-day life in a place where day-to-day life seems quasi-unimaginable to the average English language reader.  It was hard not to read Waiting for the Water to Rise without thinking of V.S. Naipaul- and maybe the similarity is what kept Waiting off the National Book Award shortlist.   Fingers crossed for the Nobel announcement- I think she would be a great pick.