Synopsis
Paris, 1792. When Jean-Louis Aubert narrowly escapes death in the bloody streets of Paris during the French Revolution, he abandons his study for the priesthood and seeks a safe haven in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue. Through a chance meeting with wealthy silk merchant and plantation owner Michel Saunier and his family, Jean finds work and romance on the steamy tropical island, where black slaves are forced to labor inhumanely in the sugarcane fields. For young Marie Josephine Saunier, her anticipated adventure on the island turns to tragedy and loss, as the slaves' quest for freedom erupts in a terrifying rebellion. The colony is thrust into a war of race and revenge that ends with the formation of a new nation, Haiti. Estranged by the war and their own inner conflicts, Jean and Marie escape separately to nearby Cuba. But their refuge in the Spanish colony is short-lived. Forced into exile again, they join thousands of French emigres sailing to the new American city of New Orleans. Inspired by a true story and sweeping through four countries and two decades, this historical novel is peopled with figures such as King Louis XVI and Toussaint Louverture, the former slave known as Haiti's liberator. In Liberty's Name brings to life the events of a tumultuous period whose impact was felt worldwide and whose influence remains today.
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About the Author
Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Eva Augustin Rumpf left the city at age 18 to attend Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois, where she majored in English, graduating summa cum laude. She later earned a Master of Arts degree in journalism at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has held a number of positions during her career, working as an English teacher, newspaper reporter, publications editor, mayoral staff aide, public relations executive, and university journalism instructor.
Review
Historians have long been fascinated by the Atlantic world in the age of revolutions, though few novelists have set their stories in this complicated and disturbing world. In her historical novel, In Liberty's Name, Eva Augustin Rumpf takes her readers along the winding path that brought her ancestors, the Augustins, from the Loire Valley to Saint-Domingue, Cuba, and finally to New Orleans. By placing her ancestors among thousands of other refugees of the French and Haitian revolutions, Rumpf plunges her readers into the turmoil of this seminal period of Atlantic world history. The tale of the Augustin family, a family that became major actors in 19th century New Orleans, is a breathtaking story of historical importance. -- Nathalie Dessens, author of From Saint-Domingue to New Orleans: Migration and Influences
Rumpf's tale of her forbears' plight in surviving two of the world's most violent and significant revolutions is both riveting and informative; it fills a void in a neglected chapter of our nation's history by narrating the consequences of the world's only successful slave revolt. -- Alfred Hunt, author of Haiti's Influence on Antebellum America
An historical novel with immediacy and impact, In Liberty's Name has vividly drawn characters caught in the dynamics of the French Revolution and its consequences across the Atlantic world. Its depictions of power, violence, tradition, ethnicity, gender, and class in France and the Caribbean from the late 18th century through the early 19th illustrate many unresolved struggles. Eva Augustin Rumpf has written fiction that carries us to this exotic world, all the while reminding us of universal concerns, especially those involving the well-being of our families. -- Thomas Bonner, Jr., Professor Emeritus, Xavier University of Louisiana, author of The Kate Chopin Companion with Chopin's Translations of French Fiction, and former editor of Xavier Review and Xavier Review Press.
From the chaotic streets of Paris during the French Revolution to the turbulent plantations in what would become Haiti, and then on to adventures in Cuba and New Orleans, In Liberty's Name is a sweeping story of adventure, passion, intrigue and heartbreak. With rich historical details, indelible characters and a gripping narrative, Eva Augustin Rumpf has given us a compelling look at some of the most riveting events in history. -- Paul Salsini, author of A Tuscan Trilogy
Author Eva Rumpf's epic tale, based on the story of her ancestors and actual historical events, unfolds against the backdrop of two revolutions, three continents, and four countries. In Liberty's Name shines a personal light on a crucial and complex era in the history of the French West Indies and its little-known, underestimated impact on the young United States. This fast- paced narrative puts the proverbial meat on the bones of history, and should be of great interest to those descendants of the 25,000 French refugees from the brutal Haitian Revolution, most of whom ended up in America. It will also appeal to genealogists in general and lovers of history, as well as to those who savor a well-told tale of war, peril, and romance. -- Augusta Elmwood, Director, Saint-Domingue Special Interest Group, Jefferson Genealogical Society, New Orleans, LA
Eva Augustin Rumpf vividly brings to life part of the fascinating pre-history of New Orleans: the twin upheavals of revolution in late 18th and early 19th century France and Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). These events forever altered the lives of the men and women, freed and enslaved, who would transform this distinctly unique American city. Using her own family's history and aided by her research, imagination and skillful writing, she reveals the impact of politics, power struggles, and racial conflict upon a generation, reminding us that history is lived daily by people. -- William Keyse Rudolph, author of Vaudechamp in New Orleans and co-author of In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre-Civil War New Orleans
Eva Augustin Rumpf plunges us into the tumult and tragedy of two momentous revolutions, the French and the Haitian, as may have been lived by her ancestors, who had to flee France, then Haiti, then Cuba, to finally settle in New Orleans. The accurate historical context comes alive and personal through powerful descriptions of the sights, sounds, even smells and tastes that the protagonists experience. While following the dramatic tribulations of two French ?migr?s, In Liberty's Name succeeds in conveying the conflicting viewpoints of other groups and the life and death choices they faced, from the radical revolutionaries in France to the slaves and mulattoes of Saint-Domingue. This fascinating story leaves us in admiration of human resilience in the face of crushing adversity, whether two hundred years ago or in the political upheavals of the twenty-first century. -- Gabrielle Verdier, Professor emerita of French, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
In her historical novel In Liberty's Name, Eva Augustin Rumpf's protagonist, Jean Baptiste Aubert, seems almost a counterpoint to the slave girl T?t? in Isabel Allende's Island Beneath the Sea in the time period spanned by both novels. The odyssey of Jean Aubert and Marie Saunier from France to Saint-Domingue, to exile in Cuba and ultimately to New Orleans is engrossing and well-researched. Their lives, as those of Rumpf's ancestors, are a tribute to the French immigrants who helped make Louisiana what it is today. -- Mary Gehman, President, Margaret Media, Inc., Donaldsonville, LA
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In Liberty's Name
Published by
Knox Robinson Publishing, 2015
ISBN 10: 1908483954
ISBN 13: 9781908483959
Used
Paperback
Seller: Midtown Scholar Bookstore, Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A.
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Very Good - Crisp, clean, unread book with some shelfwear/edgewear, may have a remainder mark - NICE Standard-sized. Seller Inventory # M1908483954Z2