It became increasingly evident to me that, in the periphery, we were so awed by the history of the dominating powers that we focused on what we considered to be important to the world instead of what was relevant to us. To some extent, at least, the sense that our history was inferior—and therefore that we were inferior—was a consequence of our history being shorter, hazier, and often less opulent than that of the colonizing superpowers—including, paradoxically, the USA. Reconciling my appreciation for many of these events—from the war of independence, to the Venezuelan civil war, to the Anguillian revolution—with the total disregard the world had for them became an increasingly urgent need, which also entailed placing these (and ultimately all) stories in an alternative context and a worldlier narrative. For years, I have been retelling histories in revisionist settings that blur the boundaries of reality, challenge the notion of knowledge, and elevate the status of speculation to at least the same level of (another) truth.
Linking this back to The Night of the Rambler, eventually I realized that telling the story of the Anguillian revolution would not be enough: what was required was a full profile of the regional traits and the specific historical sentiment that led to the series of revolts, skirmishes, and revolutions included in the novel—some of them, like the one in Cuba, were very prominent. I have not kept rigorous track of how many episodes are “real” and how many are “invented,” and there is every likelihood at this stage that I might even get one or two wrong. Which is the whole point. We are all shaped by elements that are both imagined and, at the same time, true—and we are all the richer for it.
class="ser">* * *
MONTAGUE KOBBÉ was born in Caracas, Venezuela. For the past decade he has sought the perfect balance between literature and life, residing at different times in Bristol, Leeds, London, and Munich. He has had close ties to the island-nation of Anguilla for over twenty-five years, splitting much of his time between the “Rock” and Europe since 2008. He maintains a regular literary column in the WEEKender supplement of Sint Maarten’s Daily Herald and his work has been published in Anguilla, Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Venezuela, Spain, and the UK, among others. He currently lives in London. The Night of the Rambler is his first novel.
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