The Restless

Set in 1960s French-governed Guadeloupe, Dambury’s incisive debut addresses the political and racial unrest that violently comes to a head on May 26, 1967. Nine-year-old Émilienne is waiting for her Papa to come home—she has many questions for him, the most urgent being: why did her schoolteacher disappear? Over the course of three days, Émilienne struggles to accept that her beloved teacher has been taken away and is likely to not return. Her father, meanwhile, has not yet returned home. The people of Guadeloupe have been swept up in the turmoil that began on the 24th in the capital, Pointe-à-Pitre, with workers protesting wages, and reached a boiling point two days later when police began shooting at the protesters. Ghosts—including a neighbor who died two years earlier and an uncle—relay these events to Émilienne as she waits at her house, providing historical context as well as their own personal stories. In the book’s prologue, Dambury notes that the number of casualties during the unrest was totaled at five until 2016, when official documents were declassified that showed more than 100 people were seriously wounded or killed. Dambury’s essential take on the event offers a fresh and personal perspective, incorporating multiple perspectives and a child protagonist without sacrificing nuance, and gives the stage to those too long overlooked in this tragedy. (Jan.)