The initiatory journey of a young woman embarked on a long cruise that will change the course of her life. A sentimental story set in the late 1960s on an ocean liner connecting the islands of the southwestern Indian Ocean to Europe.
“It wasn’t yet the era of cruises. It was still the time of maritime routes providing transportation for passengers who could afford to take their time reaching their destination. These slow journeys were, in themselves, a kind of vacation… On a ship, one lives as if in a parenthesis of the world and especially of their own existence…”
In the confined space of the ship, a young woman will undergo an initiatory journey, simultaneously with the long itinerary of the trip itself, which had to bypass the Cape of Good Hope. It’s an unexpected intimate immersion deep within herself. Against a well-documented and real historico-geographical backdrop, the emotional intensity crescendos throughout the novel until the climax.
This is a touching novel of truth and sincerity. The suspense is well maintained. It is also an important testimony of the time leading up to May 1968.
The Author
Born in Mauritius, Joëlle Lagesse comes from one of those French families who settled on the then uninhabited island in the 18th century. They named it Île de France. Her direct ancestor, Antoine Lagesse, a gunsmith and armorer for King Louis XV, arrived in the country in 1767 and established roots there 250 years ago.
A widow, mother of three children, and grandmother of five, Joëlle Lagesse, a fashion designer, has worked in this field all her life. However, her true passion is writing. After retirement, she dedicated herself more seriously to the pleasure of writing. Following memoirs and childhood memories of a bygone era, she wrote this first novel for her grandchildren.
