Following in the tradition of Richard Wright´s Black Boy, Joseph Zobel´s semi-autobiographical 1950 novel Black Shack Alley chronicles the coming-of-age of José, a young boy grappling with his identity in colonial Martinique.
As José transitions from childhood to young adulthood and from rural plantations to urban Fort-de-France on a quest for upward mobility, he bears witness to and struggles against the various manifestations of white supremacy, both subtle and overt, that will alter the course of his life. Zobel´s masterpiece, the basis for the award-winning film Sugar Cane Alley, is a powerful testament to twentieth-century life in Martinique, with a foreword by award-winning Martinican author Patrick Chamoiseau.