Synopses & Reviews
Should ambition cease with death? Napoleon Bonaparte doesn't think so. His ghost is actually hungrier than ever. The ex-emperor has no intention of allowing his premature end to thwart his destiny or threaten his legacy. But death holds unexpected surprises for the restless spirit of the nineteenth-century's most infamous tactician. Set in 1821 on the remote Atlantic island of St Helena during the week between Napoleon's death and burial, this historical who-done-it examines what powerful men do in narrowed circumstances and what ordinary people do when their lives collide with the exceptional. Louise Hoole, who lived on St Helena as a child, draws upon the letters and memoirs of those exiled on the island to bring to life the complex machinations of those who made up Napoleon's last court.
200 Year Anniversaries:
April 1814: The deposed Emperor is exiled to Elba. Feb. 1815: Napoleon escapes Elba, marches on Paris. March-July 1815: Napoleon rules for 100 Days. June 1815: Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo. July 1815: Napoleon is exiled to St Helena. 5 May 1821: Napoleon dies aged 52 on the island.
Review
"Eloquent, beautifully written, grave and funny: all at once. Napoleon haunts the island, and the island haunts everyone else, including the novel's author...Black Rock reads as many things, and one of them is as a love letter to St Helena."
Fiona Shaw, author of Tell it to the Bees & A Stone's Throw
About the Author
Louise Hoole was born in England, spent part of her childhood on the remote Atlantic island of St Helena, and has lived for the past decade in East Africa. She came to writing via a labyrinthine route: training as a nurse, studying literature, working in a hospice, and attempting to walk across Africa. She has written several non-fiction books including Seven Wonders (the World Heritage Sites of Tanzania), Talking to the Ancestors (about art) and Mud, Pirates, Jellyfish and Gas (about deep-water oil and gas exploration). Black Rock is her first novel. For more about the author, see www.louisehoole.com and follow on @LouiseHoole.