SOURCE: "Staying Alive," in The New York Times Book Review, October 25, 1992, pp. 11-12.

Mosher is an American novelist and short story writer whose works include Where the Rivers Flow North (1978) and A Stranger in the Kingdom (1989). In the following review of I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem and Tree of Life, he praises Condé's sense of history and compassion, stating that "it is impossible to read her novels and not come away from them with both a sadder and more exhilarating understanding of the human heart."

In the final chapter of Segu, Maryse Condé's historical novel of 19th-century tribal West Africa, the youthful Muhammad, scion of one of the great families along the Upper Niger, is about to take part in a huge and terrifying battle. As blue-turbaned horsemen gallop toward him brandishing lances, as sabers clash and iron balls whirl on chains, he thinks fleetingly...