Over Seas of Memory

Based loosely on the authors life, this novel recounts the narrators journey following the footsteps of his Mauritius-born grandfather, Maxime, who abruptly boarded a boat bound for Madagascar in 1922 and never returned. Michal Ferrier tells a tale of discovery as well as the elusive, colorful story of Maximes life in Madagascar, which included a stint as an acrobat in a traveling circus and, later, as a diver and artist on marine expeditions. Maximes story is one of adventure but also romance. He falls in love with a refined young Pauline Nues, Ferriers grandmother, whose well-to-do family of Indian merchants owns a hotel famous for playing the latest music-including American jazz-and throwing popular dances and parties. Over Seas of Memory weaves these personal stories with the islands history, including its period as a Vichy-governed territory at the center of what was termed Project Madagascar, the Nazi plan to relocate Europes Jewish population to the island. As Ferrier