There’s a monster behind the door
€15.50
In 1980s’ Réunion, monsters lurk beneath the surface of vibrant island life, ready to pounce at the slightest disturbance. Here, the naïve Dessaintes couple make a failing bid for happiness, soon growing jaded and bitter as the orange tree in their front yard. Even so, sprouting defiantly through the cracks of this postcolonial legacy of violence, poverty and intergenerational trauma, the Dessaintes’ daughter shows an irrepressible zest for life. Amidst the chaos raging behind and beyond the door of her childhood home, our young narrator stubbornly resists her parents’ refrain, ‘that’s the way it is and that’s that!’
In stock
Description
The name Dessaintes is one to reckon with. A bombastic, violent and increasingly dangerous clan, little do they know that their downfall is being chronicled by one of their own. This is La Reunion in the 1980s: high unemployment and low expectations, the legacy of postcolonialism. One little girl makes a bid for escape from her sadistic parents’ reign of terror and turns to school for salvation. Rich in the history of the island’s customs and superstitions, and driven by a wild, offbeat humour, this picaresque tale manages to satirize the very notion of freedom available in this French territory, and perhaps even the act of writing itself and where it might lead you.
Additional information
| Weight | 0.212 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 19.8 × 12.9 × 1.7 cm |
| Book_author | Bélem, Gaëlle |
| Publisher | Bullaun Press |
| Imprint | Bullaun Press |
| Cover | Paperback |
| Pages | 176 |
| Language | English |
| Edition | Paperback original |
| Dewey | 843.92 (edition:23) |
| Readership | General – Trade / Code: K |
