The Bridge of Beyond by Simone Schwarz-Bart

Book Review

By Dominic Wagner

Simone Schwarz-Bart’s classic novel, The Bridge of Beyond, is a work that explores the timeless art of African oral tradition. How she accomplishes this solely with the pen is a mystery best left to the ruminations of the master teachers. The world of Schwartz-Bart is the island of Guadalupe, one generation removed from the peril of slavery. Her homeland, once stained with sweat and blood, still bears the weight of its people’s sorrows and joys as each individual struggles with the reality of freedom from enslavement and the ensuing freedom toward the unknown. Her words resound through the lips of queens—individual women who shoulder the load of human suffering and yet still find the strength to weave the fabric of their nation’s survival out of proverb and song. This masterpiece is a river of stories; each one dedicated to detail and set to the tempo of life’s natural rhythms, seeking out the oceans of true liberation.