Novel · A way to begin
Masters of the Dew
Gouverneurs de la rosée
Jacques Roumain · 1944
Synopsis
Manuel returns to Fonds-Rouge, his native village, after fifteen years spent cutting sugar cane in Cuba. He finds it ruined by drought and deforestation, and torn apart by the hatred between two families; he falls in love with Annaïse, who belongs to the enemy clan. Drawing on what he learned in the plantations, he searches the mountain for a spring that could irrigate the land, and sets about reconciling the villagers so that the water will benefit them all.
Context
The novel was completed in Mexico City on 7 July 1944, and the Imprimerie de l'État published it in Haiti after the author's death. Langston Hughes and Mercer Cook translated it into English in 1947, under the title Masters of the Dew, and a Spanish version appeared in Havana in 1961. L'Humanité serialised it from 1947, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea made the film Cumbite from it in 1964, and the Théâtre noir de Paris staged it in 1975.
Who it is for
A novel in French, in the public domain, which can also be read in English and Spanish, and which a Cuban filmmaker brought to the screen.
Prizes and reception
It is regarded as a classic of Haitian literature, still studied at university and performed by theatre companies.