Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Ranelise is a cook in the small village of La Pointe in Guadeloupe, where she rescues a teenage girl from suicide by drowning. The girl, Reynalda Titane, lives at the local jeweler's grand house, where her mother, Nina, is a maid. Reynalda is pregnant and in a state of despair. Ranelise cares for her and the child, christened Marie-Noelle, but Reynalda soon flees to France, intent upon getting the education that will allow her to rise above her mother's fate.
Desirada is the story of Marie-Noelle and her quest to understand the mother who abandoned her and to discover the identity of her father. It is also the story of generations of island women and the pursuit of a meaningful life despite a tainted personal history.
Desirada was awarded the prestigious Prix Carbet de la Caraibe in 1998, given for the best book by a Caribbean author. It is Maryse Conde's twelfth novel.