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Haitian Book Club: The Wedding at Port-au-Prince by Hans Christoph Buch


Towards the beginning of Haiti’s history, there was a strong link with Germany.

The Wedding at Port-au-Prince by Hans Christoph Buch is a novel written by a German with Haitian roots (this book was actually originally written in German and has been translated by Ralph Manheim). Buch’s great-grandfather Louis was a pharmacist who emigrated to Haiti, just as the 1800s was about to come to a close.

The Wedding at Port-au-Prince is the fictionalized story of German communities in Haiti, but it really begins with the arrival of the French admiral Villaret de Joyeuse, who sails into Port-au-Prince in 1802. This French beginning will give way to the German aspect of the novel’s pages later.

Buch recounts the story of Pauline, the Haitian woman his great-grandfather marries, who dies under mysterious circumstances that her countryman deems vodun-related. Intersected within Buch’s book, are letter exchanges that detail Haitian-German relations from the 1890s down to the 1970s, from the scandal of the so-called Luders affairs, an incident that was to mar relations between Germany and Haiti.

Intrigues, duels, diplomatic gaffes really aren’t supposed to be part of any wedding celebration, but Buch’s story is really about the marriage of two communities, one from Europe and the other the hot Caribbean island of Haiti.

K St. Fort
K St. Fort
ABOUT K. St Fort K. St. Fort is the Editor and Founder of, well, Kreyolicious.com and wishes to give you a heartfelt welcome to her site. She loves to read, write, and listen to music and is fascinated by her Haitian roots, and all aspects of her culture. Speaking of music, she likes it loud, really, really loud. Like bicuspid valve raising-loud. Her other love are the movies. She was once a Top 50 finalist for a student screenwriting competition, encouraging her to continue pounding the pavement. She has completed several screenplays, with Haiti as the backdrop, one of which tackles sexual abuse in an upper middle class Haitian family, while another has child slavery as its subject. She is currently completing another script, this time a thriller, about two sisters who reunite after nearly 10 years of separation. A strong believer in using films to further educational purposes, and to raise awareness about important subjects, she has made it a point to write about social issues facing Haiti, and making them an integral part of her projects. She has interviewed such Haitian-American celebrities as Roxane Gay, Garcelle Beauvais, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Briana Roy, Karen Civil, and many, many more. And that’s her writing this whole biographical sketch. She actually thinks writing about herself in the third person is cute. MY WEBSITE Kreyolicious ™: kree-ohl-lish-uh s: Surely an adjective…the state of being young, gorgeous, fine and utterly Haitian. Kreyolicious.com™, the hub for young, upwardly mobile Haitian-Americans, is akin to a 18th Century cultural salon but with a Millennium sensibility–an inviting lair, where we can discuss literature, music, problems facing the community, and everything on the side and in-between. Kreyolicious is the premier lifestyle, culture and entertainment blog and brand of the hip, young, trend-oriented, forward thinking Haitian-American. It’s the definite hot spot to learn more about Haiti our emerging identity as a people, and explore our pride and passion about our unique and vibrant culture. Within the site’s pages, Kreyolicious.com is going to engage you, empower you, and deepen your connection to everything Haitian: the issues, the culture, our cinema, the history, our cuisine, the style, the music, the worldwide community. Make yourself at home in my cultural salon. If you’re looking to learn more about Haiti, Kreyolicious.com invites you to board this trolley on a journey–on our journey. For me too, it is a process, a non-ending cultural odyssey. If you’re already acculturated, I can certainly learn something from you. We can learn from one other, for certain. With my site, Kreyolicious.com I look forward to inspiring you, to enriching you, and to participating alongside of you, in the cultural celebration. And being utterly kreyolicious. How do you wear your kreyoliciousness? On your sleeves, like I do? Kreyoliciously Yours, Your girl K. St. Fort, Ahem, follow me elsewhere!

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