The Monsters of St. Helena

By Brooks Hansen

Book Overview

A notorious episode in Napoleon's career, brilliantly illuminated in fiction Brooks Hansen's new novel is the story of Napoleon Bonaparte's last exile, in 1815, on the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic, "the place on earth farthest from any other place." The island is populated by English expatriates and the descendants of Portuguese settlers and their slaves--and by the spirit of the island's first native, the sixteenth-century nobleman Fernando Lopez, who haunts them all, and the novel, in strange and captivating ways. Bonaparte's arrival--with a retinue of fifteen hundred people--throws the island population into turmoil and particularly alarms the slaves, who see "Bony" as a white demon. After settling in a tea-house in a patch of briars and fruit trees, where he will write his memoirs and await his inevitable end, Napoleon is befriended by a teenage girl, Betsy Balcombe--the only person who is able to penetrate the imperial facade and get to know the proud, wounded man within. Naturally gorgeous, splendidly isolated, with its own history, manners, graveyard secrets, and even a vivid folk religion, the island of St. Helena becomes a character in its own right. The Monsters of St. Helena is a novel as unique and delightful as the territory it depicts, and a great achievement for this gifted writer.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374270198
• ISBN13: 9780374270193
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Betsy and Bony

After reading his first book, The Chess Garden, I've kept my eyes open for books by Brooks Hansen. I loved Perlmans Ordeal, but I think Monsters of St. Helena is his best book yet. This story has a magic that pulls you right in to this strange island world of Napoleon in his first weeks on St. Helena. His relationship with a young teen, Betsy, and his relationship to the island itself, make for a rich read.The island ghosts and natives, slaves, settlers and interlopers - all play a role in this book to give it a deep, textured look into what were the last happy days for this historic figure. The beauty of the words is matched by the complexity of the characters. -- Simple things - Like:"all the leaves, the stalks, and blades are heavy with dew, waiting for the sun to come and warm them dry and open them. The same as every day, yet there is something different, something raw and tender, like the throat of a child who has been weeping and can't remember why." You can't miss the art of this writer --I can't write as well as Mr. Hansen, few folks can, but if I could, I would write about how much I loved this book and how strongly I recommend it! I'm looking forward to his next book -- and many more to come.