Island on Fire
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
In the lush, tropical world of Martinique in 1902 where slavery is a distant memory and voodoo holds sway, Emilie Dujon discovers that her fiancé, a rich sugar planter, has been unfaithful. Desperate to leave him, she elicits the aid of a voodoo witch doctor and is lured into a shadowy world of black magic and extortion. When the volcano known as Mount Pelée begins to rumble and spew ash, she joins a scientific committee sent to investigate the crater. During the journey she meets Lt. Denis Rémy, an army officer with a mysterious past. At the summit, the explorers discover that a second crater has formed and the volcano appears to be on the verge of eruption. But when they try to warn the governor, he orders them to bury the evidence for fear of upsetting the upcoming election. As the pressure builds, a deadly mudslide inundates Emilie's plantation and she disappears. With ash and cinders raining down, chaos ensues. Left with no choice, Lt. Rémy deserts his post and sets off on a desperate quest to rescue Emilie. But with all roads blocked, can they escape the doomed Pompeii of the Caribbean before it's too late?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Schiller (Race to Tibet) sets this memorable romantic thriller in 1902 on the island of Martinique, whose main city, Saint-Pierre, was considered at the time to be the Paris of the West Indies, shortly before the eruption of the Mount Pel e volcano, which claimed approximately 30,000 lives. The personal life of Emelie Dujon, an upper-class 19-year-old, is in turmoil after she learns of her fianc 's unfaithfulness. As tremors threaten the island, Emelie struggles to find a way to end her engagement without becoming a social pariah, even turning, in desperation, to voodoo. That story line is enhanced by sections illuminating the island's politics, as Gov. Louis Mouttet, whose role in the response to the volcanic catastrophe remains a source of controversy, struggles with the growing electoral strength of radical socialists. A closing author's note details how closely the novel adheres to the known facts of what transpired in Saint-Pierre. Schiller nicely balances history and fiction. (BookLife)
