Slave Old Man

by Patrick Chamoiseau

First published 2019

The old man breaks his chains and runs. Behind him, his master gives chase through the dense Martinique rainforest, a vicious hound at his side. The elderly slave pushes deeper into the wild, where towering trees and tangled vines create a world beyond human dominion. The forest watches. It waits. As the pursuit continues, the lush wilderness begins to work its strange power on all three figures. Reality bends under the weight of ancient trees and creeping mist. Time stretches and warps. The old man's desperate bid for freedom becomes something larger, something that will change hunter and hunted alike in ways none of them could imagine. In this place where nature reigns supreme, the brutal logic of slavery meets forces older and stronger than any human cruelty.

Genres: fiction, 20th-century, african-literature, adventure, 21st-century

Vibes: atmospheric, lyrical, thought-provoking

Tropes: man-vs-nature, man-vs-society

Setting: Martinique

Period: 19th-century

151 pages · Paperback · The New Press

Content warnings: slavery

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