Cathedral of the August Heat, Pierre Clitandre's first novel in English and the first novel from Haitian French translated for a new generation, is a modern classic reflecting the kaleidoscope of Haitian life and the struggle of the very poorest people of the Americas that still goes on today. The vibrant action of the novel leads towards the August Feast of the Assumption of our Lady, a date of symbolic importance not only in religious terms, but also politically as the first day of the uprising in 1791 that led to the establishment of the world's first independent black republic and the first society to abolish slavery after the French Revolution. This key date lies behind Pierre Clitandre's dynamic, colorful and unforgettable portrait of Haiti's shantytown dwellers brought to the brink of rebellion.
