Novel
Pretenders: The Hellénus Cato Affair
Les Simulacres
Fernand Hibbert · 1923
Synopsis
In Port-au-Prince, under the American occupation, Hellénus Caton, a former politician grown rich through corruption, has opposed the Americans ever since they refused to back his bid for the presidency, and gets on poorly with his young and beautiful wife, Céphise. A Cuban arrives, Pablo Alcantara, who claims to be learned in the occult sciences and promises fortune and miracles: a real opportunity or yet another imposture?
Context
The author's last novel, the book came off the presses of the Chéraquit printing house in 1923, in the Haitian capital. Hibbert mocks the Haitian bourgeoisie, its vanity, venality and mismanagement, and calls simulacra the lies behind which men hide the truth, their interests and their appetites. Characters from his earlier novels reappear, such as Gérard Delhi. The book appeared in English in 2018 as Pretenders: The Hellénus Cato Affair.
Who it is for
For laughing at the pretences of Haitian high society in the time of the Americans, from a caustic pen.
Prizes and reception
The blog Je connais un mot reads in the Cuban swindler a critique of American dominance, while noting the author's ambivalence.