Maryse Conde's novel, Windward Heights, was inspired by Emily Brontë's, Wuthering Heights. While Brontë's novel took place in the Yorkshire moors, Conde's Windward Heights takes us to the Guadeloupe Islands. The four sections in the book represent the four islands- Cuba, Basse-Terre, Marie-Galante and Roseau.
The protagonist of Windward Heights, Catherine Gagneur is a mixed race woman, the daughter of a mixed race planter, Hubert Gagneur. Hubert inherited the large but rapidly diminishing l'Engoulvent estate from his white creole father, in which he lives with his two children, Catherine and Justin-Marie.
Gagneur returns from one of his trips with an orphaned black boy, Razye. Gagneur raises Razye with the same privileges and comforts that his own children have. Quickly Razye becomes both Catherine's and Gagneurs favourite, much to the chagrin of Justin. When Gagneur dies, Justin inherits the l'Engoulvent estate and makes considerable changes to its administration. Amongst these changes, was reducing Razye to a mere servant to the estate. Justin marries a white creole woman and begins trying to educate and refine Cathy so she may assimilate to the white creole culture and marry a wealthy white man.
Cathy meets Aymeric de Linsseul, a wealthy white planter. Eventually she marries Aymeric despite her love for Razye. She admits that she would have married Razye had he not been reduced to a servant. On hearing this, Razye is enraged and leaves the estate and is not heard from for three years. In the years he was away Razye had joined the Cuban independence movement and acquired a handsome fortune.
Razye returns after the three years to l'Engoulvent determined to exact revenge on those who humiliated him. He and Justin engage in a game of cards, in which Justin wagers his entire fortune and the estate. Razye wins the game and l'Engoulvent. Now in possession of a fortune and a vast estate, Razye befriends the Linsseul's and marries Cathy's sister in law, Irmine. His marriage to Irmine was from the single motive to have his revenge on Cathy, whom he had loved.
Cathy is deeply disturbed by the turn of events and becomes very ill. Suffering from a prolonged sickness whilst pregnant, she dies during childbirth. Razye is agonised and enraged by Cathy's death, he sees it as her final betrayal. He clings to her memory and commands her spirit to haunt him till the end of his days.
Years later Cathy and Aymeric's daughter, Catherine II meets Razye II, Razye and Irmine's son. The two fall in love and marry. The two take refuge in the island of Roseau and have a child who they name Anthuria. After the death of Catherine II, Razye II comes back to l'Engoulvent and spends the rest of his days there with Anthuria.
