The Priest and the Prophetess
Abbé Ouvière, Romaine Rivière, and the Revolutionary Atlantic World
Terry Rey
Reviews and Awards
"The Priest and the Prophetess offers a fascinating glimpse into an understudied figure in Haitian Revolutionary history. Along the way, Rey manages to augment and helpfully complicate narratives of the Haitian Revolution and portrayals of Haitian religion.... The Priest and the Prophetess makes a compelling case for the centrality of Catholicism in the Haitian Revolution." -- Reading Religion
"By illumining the Haitian Revolution through Catholic people, ritual, and ideology, Rey has restored a key perspective generally missing from most historical interpretations of this period. The Priest and the Prophetess is an engaging, fresh, and thoughtprovoking read." -- Sue Peabody, New West Indian Guide
"The Priest and the Prophetess offers a rich and fascinating story, evocatively told, that gives us new insight into the spiritual, cultural and political meanings of the Haitian Revolution. Through the carefully reconstructed life of the remarkable Romaine Rivière, Rey illuminates a key moment in the religious history of Haiti and the Afro-Atlantic world."--Laurent Dubois, author of Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution
"Tracing the collaboration and divergence of two remarkable figures—one a defrocked French priest, the other an African-descended prophetess—Terry Rey brilliantly illuminates the role of popular Catholicism as an intellectual force in the revolutionary Atlantic world. Along the way, Rey resurrects little-known life histories of the Haitian Revolution. Deeply researched and engagingly written, this is micro-history at its very best." --James H. Sweet, Vilas-Jartz Distinguished Professor of History, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"Romaine-la-Prophètesse has always been a mysterious figure, lurking in the background of the scholarly literature of the Haitian Revolution. Drawing on a wide range of archival and primary sources, Terry Rey has given us a fuller picture of Romaine, a zealous Catholic who dressed in women's clothes as he led a band of insurgents into fierce fighting. By uncovering the story of Romaine's life, Rey provides important insights into the role of Catholicism in the ideology of the Revolution."--John Thornton, Professor of African American Studies and History, Boston University
