Isabelle Fournier
Special to CSMS Magazine
In the quiet embrace of Aix-en-Provence, where the scent of lavender lingers in the air and golden light filters through the plane trees, Isabelle Fournier had always found solace in books. But nothing had captured her imagination quite like Haitian literature. It was a world of resilience and poetry, of struggle and beauty, of history written in the voices of those who refused to be forgotten.
One evening, nestled in her favorite reading nook—a window seat overlooking the sleepy streets—she picked up Midnight at Noon by Ardain Isma. She had discovered Isma’s work while searching for contemporary Haitian authors, drawn by his exploration of migration, identity, and the intricate ties between past and present. The title alone intrigued her, evoking a paradox, a world where time itself seemed to fracture.
From the first page, Isabelle was captivated. The novel’s protagonist, a young Haitian man navigating the turbulence of exile and memory, reminded her of the themes she had encountered in Jacques Roumain’s Gouverneurs de la Rosée and Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones. Yet there was something different here—something urgent. The prose pulsed with a quiet intensity, and as she read, she felt transported to a world both foreign and deeply familiar.
She traced the protagonist’s journey through the weight of history, through love and betrayal, through the echoes of revolution. Each page was a bridge between continents, between the sunlit cafés of southern France and the restless spirit of Haiti. She imagined walking through the streets of Port-au-Prince, feeling the heat rise from the pavement, hearing the murmur of Creole voices blending with the hum of the city.
When she finally set the book down, dawn was breaking. Isabelle pressed the novel to her chest, her mind ablaze with thoughts. Midnight and noon—opposites entwined, just like her own growing bond with this distant land. She had never been to Haiti, but through its literature, she felt as if she had already begun her journey.
Note: Isabelle Fournier uses her pen name to write this article for CSMS Magazine. She lives in southern France. If you’re interested in submitting a short essay, you can send it to us via our contact page. You can also subscribe to our newsletter.
Additionally, you can purchase a copy Midnight at Noon from here.
