Maryse Conde is the award-winning author of twelve novels, including "Crossing the Mangrove, Segu, Who Slashed Celanire's Throat?, " and "I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem." She lives in New York and Montebello, Guadeloupe. Maryse Condè recalls the most influential and meaningful moments of her childhood in her book Tales from the Heart. This book is a collection of autobiographical essays that guide the reader through moments in a young girl's childhood. This childhood is not just any childhood, however. Condè is a black girl with West Indian heritage. Her parents are quite wealthy and very intelligent. Her family lives in Paris, France, which has a primarily white population. Through her powerful yet humorous depictions of the seventeen influential moments that she chose to write about in this book, Condè guides her readers through her struggle to understand both what it means to grow up and what it means to be alienated because of her racial identity.

Translation of: Cœur à rire et à pleurer.