Alphabet of the Night

Port-au-Prince: another dull morning tinged with violence and black magic. Jeremy Assael, a Jewish shopkeeper, sees his friend and lover, Lucien, gunned down outside his shop by a vengeful policeman. In a Haiti that exists in a perpetual night of social unrest and oppression, Jeremy wonders whether he has any other option but to go into exile. He decides, however, to solve the mystery of the ominous disappearance of his best friend from school, Fresnel, and embarks on a quest to discover his fate. His search for answers leads him to a corrupt pastor, a shady revolutionary and a voodoo priest - and uncovers along the way truths not only about himself, but also about contemporary Haiti, a land where everything and nothing is possible. Alphabet of the Night (L'Alphabet des nuits), translated by Christopher Moncrieff, is the first novel by Milce published by Pushkin Press. Jean-Euphele Milce lives in Port-au-Prince and has, it seems, survived the catastrophe. His novel Alphabet of the Night (Pushkin Press) captures the blended sensuality and sorrow of that accursed city. --BOYD TONKIN The Independent Christopher Moncrieff's fine translation effectively conveys this book's heady, poetic style. Jean-Euphele Milce('s) powerful and affecting first novel paints a terrifying picture of a society spiralling inexorably downwards. --CHRIS SCHULER The Independent