Renee N Rodriguez

Rope, written by Author and Professor M. Ketsia Theodore-Pharel, is an intricate love story revolving around Moiselle Moises and Robert Donner who have a lot to discover about themselves. The book is set in Haiti during the early twentieth century where the reader gets to meet all of Pharel’s characters. With her impactful prologue, the reader is able to gather that Colvin Donner is a missionary of the U.S. occupation and is dead set on finding Champagne Pepla, the Caco leader. Instead, he captures Poupette Moises and when she does not lead him to Champagne, he proceeds to torture and rape her. Throughout the story it is revealed that Robert is the son of Pastor Colvin Donner and Moiselle is the daughter of Poupette Moises. Both children are arranged into marriages, but just can’t stay away from each other. As a result, they fall in love, but what they discover about their heritage is more than complicated and forces them to ponder their fate. Although such a situation may seem terribly impossible, their relationship manages to last decades, connecting Americans and Haitians in a time where such a thing was unfeasible. Rope is so well written, primarily because Pharel understands both Haitian and American culture. Being Haitian herself and having lived in America, Pharel has a great advantage writing such a story. She is also a religious person, and therefore understands the role of religion, allowing her to incorporate such well-written religious aspects into the book. Furthermore, her experience as a Professor aids her storytelling. Pharel has a deep understanding of symbolism and allusion to name a couple, which can be seen when she repeatedly refers back to the “rope” when discussing the death of Colvin’s wife and Champagne, and how everyone in the story is connected as if being “tied” or “bound” to each other. Overall, this story perfectly encompasses what it’s like to live in Haiti in the 1900’s and is very encapsulating because of all the complexity within. Pharel has the perfect background to be writing such a story, making the technical aspect of the history spot on. With that, I award Rope a 5 out of 5 star rating. This is the kind of read I recommend to hopeless romantics who enjoy a complicated love story with impossible thrills.