Who Slashed Celanire's Throat?: A Fantastical Tale

From the winner of the New Academy Prize in Literature (the alternative to the Nobel Prize), critically-acclaimed author Maryse Condé blends magical realism and a true story to create an unforgettable masterpiece.

On one hand, beautiful Celanire—a woman mutilated at birth and left for dead—appears today to be a saint; she is a tireless worker who has turned numerous neglected institutions into schools for motherless children. But she is also a woman apprehended by demons, as death and misfortune seem to follow in her wake. Traveling from Guadeloupe to West Africa to Peru, the mysterious, seductive, and disarming Celanire is driven to uncover the truth of her past at any cost and avenge the crimes committed against her.

With her characteristic blend of magical realism and fantasy, and inspired by a true story, Maryse Condé hauntingly imagines Celanire in an unforgettable novel—a most dazzling addition to the deeply prolific and widely celebrated author’s brilliant body of work.

Maryse Condé was an award-winning novelist, critic, and playwright. Her novels include Crossing the Mangrove, Segu, Who Slashed Celanire's Throat?, and I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem. Her work has been translated into many languages all over the world, and she was awarded the New Academy Prize in Literature (the alternative to the Nobel Prize) in 2018. She passed away in 2024 at the age of ninety.