Skip to content

Abeng
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Abeng Paperback - 2008

by Cliff, Michelle

  • Used

A lyrical coming-of-age story and a provocative retelling of thecolonial history of Jamaica

Originally published in 1984, this critically acclaimed novelis the story of Clare Savage, a light-skinned, twelve-year-old,middle-class girl growing up in Jamaica in the 1950s. Asshe tries to find her own identity and place in her culture,Clare carries the burden of her mixed heritage. There are theMaroons, who used the conch shell the abeng to passmessages as they fought against their English enslavers. Andthere is her white great-great-grandfather, Judge Savage, whoburned his hundred slaves on the eve of their emancipation. InClare's struggle to reconcile the conflicting legacies of her ownpersonal lineage, esteemed Caribbean author Michelle Cliffdramatically confronts the cultural and psychological violenceinflicted upon the island and its people by colonialism.

Description

Penguin Publishing Group. Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
Used - Good
NZ$11.80
FREE Shipping to USA Standard delivery: 4 to 8 days
More Shipping Options
Ships from Better World Books (Indiana, United States)
The BIBLIO Guarantee | Ask Seller a Question

Details

  • Title Abeng
  • Author Cliff, Michelle
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: Repri
  • Condition Used - Good
  • Pages 176
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Publishing Group, New York, New York
  • Date 2008-05-01
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 570080-6
  • ISBN 9780452274839 / 0452274834
  • Weight 0.35 lbs (0.16 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 in (20.07 x 13.21 x 2.03 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Ethnic Orientation: African American
    • Topical: Coming of Age
  • Library of Congress subjects Historical fiction, Bildungsromane
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 95014134
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

About Better World Books Indiana, United States

Biblio member since 2005
Seller rating: This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.

Better World Books is the world's leading socially conscious online bookseller and has sold over 100 million books. Each sale generates funds for global literacy and education initiatives. We offer low prices, fast shipping, and have a 100% money back guarantee, if you are not completely satisfied.

Terms of Sale:

Better World Books wants every single one of its customers to be happy with their purchase. If you are not satisfied your purchase or simply find out that it was not the book you were looking for, please e-mail us at: help@betterworldbooks.com. We will get back to you as soon as possible with directions on how to return the book to our warehouse. Please keep in mind that because we deal mostly in used books, any extra components, such as CDs or access codes, are usually not included. CDs: If the book does include a CD, it will be noted in the book's description ("With CD!"). Otherwise, there is no CD included, even if the term is used in the book's title. Access Codes: Unless the book is described as "New," please assume that the book does *not* have an access code.

Browse books from Better World Books

Summary

Ever since Abeng was first published in 1984, Michelle Cliff has steadily become a literary force. Her novels evoke both the clearly delineated hierarchies of colonial Jamaica and the subtleties of present-day island life. Nowhere is her power felt more than in Clare Savage, her Jamaican heroine, who appeared, already grown, in No Telephone to Heaven. Abeng is a kind of prequel to that highly-acclaimed novel and is a small masterpiece in its own right. Here Clare is twelve years old, the light-skinned daughter of a middle-class family, growing up among the complex contradictions of class versus color, blood versus history, harsh reality versus delusion, in a colonized country. In language that surrounds us with a richness of meaning and voices, the several strands of young Clare's heritage are explored: the Maroons, who used the conch shell—the abeng—to pass messages as they fought a guerilla struggle against their English enslavers; and the legacy of Clare's white great-great-grandfater, Judge Savage, who burned his hundred slaves on the eve of their emancipation. A lyrical, explosive coming-of-age story combined with a provocative retelling of the colonial history of Jamaica, this novel is a triumph.

From the publisher

Michelle Cliff was born in Jamaica and is the author of three acclaimed novels: Abeng, its sequel, No Telephone to Heaven, and Free Enterprise (Plume). She has also written a collection of short stories, Bodies of Water (Plume), and two poetry collections, The Land of Look Behind and Claiming an Identity They Tought Me to Despise. She is Allan K. Smith Professor of English Language and Literature at Trinity College in Connecticut and divides her time between Hartford, Connecticut, and Santa Cruz, California.

First line

HASH(0x111030d0)

Media reviews

"Powerful and often lyric … an important work."
—Library Journal

"The beauty and authority of her writing are coupled with profound insight."
—Toni Morrison

"Her keen eye for detail and pithy anecdotal descriptions bring Jamaica's present and past to life."
—New York Times Book Review

"Jamaican history, lore, and lanscape are evocatively re-created in this multilayered novel. … Through its richness and diversity of detail, Abeng achieves a timeless universality."
—Publisher's Weekly

"Abeng is a solid achievement, a book that offers a wealth of history and culture. … [Cliff's] perception of character, her receptivity to sensuous detail, her rendering of the language, make our journey … a richly textured experience."
—Plexus

About the author

Michelle Cliff (1946-2016) was a Jamaican-American author whose writing explored colonialism and racism. Her body of work includes novels, Abeng, its sequel, No Telephone to Heaven, Free Enterprise, and Into the Interior; short story collections, The Store of a Million Items and Bodies of Water; and poetry collections, The Land of Look Behind and Claiming an Identity They Taught Me to Despise.

Hang on… we’re fetching the requested page.