The Polished Hoe - Softcover

Austin-clarke

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0954130383 ISBN 13: 9780954130381

Publisher: Gardners Books, 2004

Synopsis

The Polished Hoe is an epic symphony of Caribbean life. Layers of disturbing history slowly unfold through one woman's intimate, murderous confession. In this meditation on love, loss and sacrifice Mary-Mathilda - mistress of a cruel plantation manager - tells her story in an exquisite, dancing vernacular. 'There is a mesmerising stillness to Austin Clarke's latest novel . . . Out of a single act of retribution [he] has spun an entire history, one in which freedom, love and even languor all have their place' - New York Times'The beauty of The Polished Hoe lies in the poetry of its telling and the marvellous voice of Mary-Mathilda. The value of the novel lies in its patient exploration of the sacrifices that are made for the sake of survival' - Washington Post

About this title

About the Author:

Austin Clarke's novel is the winner of the 2003 Commonwealth Prize; the 2002 Giller Prize - Canada's most prestigious literary award; and Ontario's 2002 Trillium Book Award. It is a Canadian and American bestseller. Austin Clarke is the winner of the 1999 W.O. Mitchell Prize, awarded each year to a Canadian writer who has produced an outstanding body of work and served as a mentor to other writers. Born in Barbados, Austin Clarke came to Canada in 1955 and now lives in Toronto. He has enjoyed a varied and distinguished career as a broadcaster, civil rights leader, professor and diplomat, and is the author of six short-story collections and ten novels.

From Publishers Weekly:

Clarke, considered one of Canada's finest political novelists, but less well known in the U.S. (a memoir, Pig Tails 'n Breadfruit, was published by the New Press in 2000), gets a new launching in this country with this eloquent, richly detailed novel, awarded Canada's Giller Prize. A murder takes place in the 1950s on the fictional Caribbean island of Bimshire (a stand-in for Clarke's native Barbados), where the culture of English gardens and cricket contrasts sharply with the legacy of slavery. The murderer is Mary Gertrude Mathilda, a respected elderly black matriarch. But the identity of the victim is less clear. In the 24 hours covered by Austin's tale, Mary is determined to tell the police about the lifetime of degradations that led up to her homicidal rage, and Sgt. Percy Stuart, a black member of the police force, is determined to stop her. Percy is in love with Mary, but his life has been a continual compromise with the still-lingering plantation system. Nobody represents the system better than Mr. Bellfeels, the white manager of the sugar plantation at the center of the villagers' lives. When she was 13, Mary was, in essence, bartered to Bellfeels by her mother, who was his previous mistress. For 38 years, she bore his groping and his children. Though he has helped their son, Wilberforce, become a doctor, Bellfeels has never shown Mary herself any kindness. At times, Clarke loses confidence in his characters and has them deliver forced sociological truths-for instance, when Mary gives a lecture about Christopher Columbus. Most of the story, however, unfolds through brilliantly written dialogue, a rich, dancing patois that fills out the dimensions of the island's painful history and its complex caste system. Like Texaco, by Martinique writer Patrick Chamoiseau, Clarke's novel, by harnessing the genius of Creole, shows how art can don a liberating face.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Gardners Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0954130383
• ISBN 13: 9780954130381
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 544