CSMS Magazine Staff Writers
This is the news! Ardain Isma’s long anticipated novel Midnight at Noon is set to be released this Friday. The news came this morning as Ardain was about to deliver a speech on cultural diversity at Jacksonville University (JU). See Picture. You could see the glow on his face when he heard the news. Midnight is the novel that x-rays the Haitian society and quickly takes sides, taking the Haitian masses to the left bank of the river of hope, offering what needs to be done to rid the country of its misery. Midnight is also a story of love, squaring Odilon, a young peasant from the village of Anwodo and Thérèse, his longtime girlfriend from downtown Saint Louis du Nord. This story could easily be titled “Love in the Time of War.”
Ardain wrote this novel from the deepest end of his soul, and now he is inviting all his friends, followers, avid readers, friends of Haiti to get a copy. Although written through the prism of the Haitian dilemma, Midnight can equally be applied to any society where corruption and dictatorship reign supreme. The book can be purchased at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Borders Bookstores, etc… Readers will also be able to purchase an electronic version of the book by downloading it to their Kindle Fires. Below is a brief synopsis of Midnight.
Synopsis
This richly tapestried tale, rife with wisdom, heroism and heartache about the current state of the Haitian society, starts with a murder mystery. Odilon, a young peasant from the village of Anwodo, worries about his brother Avisène, innocently arrested and murdered by the corrupt local authorities. Odilon swears to avenge his brother’s death.
When he travels to the nearby city of Saint Louis one day, Odilon experiences gunfire and bombs exploding all around. It is the beginning of a revolution. Olivier Zebeda, leader of the Revolutionary Resistance Front (RRF), delivers a moving speech extolling the virtues of fighting for freedom and democracy. Odilon is fired up. He soon becomes the leader of a peasant movement in his village.
In the process, he meets Thérèse. The two swiftly become more than ardent friends. They are now lovers in each other’s arms to weather the fear of war and to share dazzling moments of victories in the battlefield.
The tolls of war are graphically portrayed, including important military takeovers of towns and territories and the wide variety of positions taken by the RRF field commanders. Strategies and battle plans are recounted in great detail and sophisticated depth, showing how the war rages back and forth, with the advantage gradually shifting away from the rebel fighters over to the government troops.
Most people in Anwodo escape, as the fighting in Saint Louis edges closer to the village. The revolution fails to triumph, and a systematic repression immediately follows, forcing thousands to flee their native land, including Odilon and Thérèse.
Sounds more than good.