At the end of summer, I let the sea novel thriller to tell you about a novel, Published in 2009 published by Michel LAFON, Based on recently updated historical facts (*).This book recounts the tragic journey of the French ship "L'Utile", a 800 barrels carrying a clandestine cargo of Malagasy slaves bound for the Ile de France, today Mauritius. The boat ran aground in 1761 on a tiny block of coral lost in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Devastated by storms : the island of Tromelin. Some 160 Slaves abandoned on this desert island by the white crew, 8 survivors were only discovered, 15 years after the shipwreck, by the corvette "La Dauphine" commanded by Ensign De Tromelin (whose name was given to the island).
Historical research
Map of the Ile des Sables in the eighteenth century
In 2004, by a combination of circumstances, Captain Max Guérout, passionate of maritime archeology, is put on the trail of this story. Come in 2005 and 2008 He leads a research mission, under the patronage of UNESCO, in order to shed light on the unfolding of the tragedy of the "Forgotten Slaves" of Tromelin. With the assistance of several dozen speakers, a thorough investigation into the many marine and family archives, and two archaeological campaigns on the island, The thread of this terrible episode of slavery is gradually reconstructed
The story
Irène Frain, journalist and novel writer, met Max Guérout in Paris.
" He dreamed that a writer, by the grace of a narrative, gives life to this mass of archives and objects that he had just rescued from the silting up of oblivion. ”
Captivated by this story, Irène Frain immerses herself in the documents, Stay on the island, and transforms this archaeological material into a moving story, An incredible human adventure that fell into oblivion for more than two centuries. The cohabitation of black slaves and 140 White sailors. The construction of a makeshift ship, then the abandonment of the blacks by the whites in exchange for a promise never kept to come and help them as soon as possible.
A book not to be missed under any circumstances, to remember that the sea is also the scene of tragedies, from the island of Tromelin to today's "boat people".
Current situation of Tromelin Island
(*) Great Palatine Price of History Novel 2009