The Boiling Season: A Novel
“Hebert demonstrates an ambition and clarity of vision that is rare in a first novel…A rich, synthesized imagining of the personal history of a country torn asunder.” (Kirkus Reviews)“Hypnotically fascinating…It’s remarkable to see an American novel so profoundly steeped in the tradition of the great Haitian writers of the twentieth century.” (Madison Smartt Bell, author of ALL SOULS' RISING)“THE BOILING SEASON asks all the right questions, and it answers those questions beautifully, with great dramatic force.” (Charles Baxter, author of THE FEAST OF LOVE AND GRYPHON: NEW AND SELECTED STORIES)“…luminous and important…Christopher Hebert is a serious new novelist, one who’s offered us a real gift-a mesmerizing entertainment that uplifts, educates, moves, and changes us.” (Laura Kasischke, author of IN A PERFECT WORLD and THE RAISING)“With an unforced formality of diction…the whole is told with such clear-eyed compassion that the reader comes to honor failure-one mark of this novel’s success.” (Nicholas Delbanco, author of SHERBROOKES)“THE BOILING SEASON is a beguiling political novel…Hebert conjures this strife-torn island-at once fictitious, but also hauntingly familiar-with uncanny precision and compelling lucidity.” (Peter Ho Davies, author of THE WELSH GIRL)“…a tour de force of restrained, unreliable first-person narration, a love letter to a beautiful, forgotten place, and a visceral depiction of Haitian political upheaval…A truly auspicious debut.” (Michael Knight, author of THE TYPIST and THE DIVINING ROD)“Hebert conjures a vibrant atmosphere, as rich as a character as any inhabitant, whether in the fetid stink of the slums or the cool, detached opulence of the most affluent homes...” (Booklist)“Allegories about the morality of international development projects are rarely as subtle and lyrical as Christopher Hebert’s debut novel, ‘The Boiling Season.’” (San Francisco Chronicle)“’The Boiling Season’ is a subtly crafted novel and an auspicious debut for Hebert.” (Dayton Daily News)