68. The Magic of Love

Author’s NoteI visited Martinique in 1976 and found it to be the beautiful, mysterious and haunting island of flowers I have described in the book. My son and I stayed at Leyritz, which I have described under the name of Vesonne-des-Arbres. Previously a plantation, the eighteenth-century house has been restored and made into an hotel in recent years by clever and attractive Madame Yveline de Lucy de Fossarieu. The old slave quarters, a glimpse of Martinique’s past and the period in which this book is set are now chalets and what was the storehouse, also featured in the story, is a very attractive dining room. It has been described as a Shangri-La and it is not surprising that when President Giscard d’Estaing of France wished to entertain President Ford of the U.S.A. on French soil he took him to Martinique and they lunched at Leyritz. When I arrived, I found in the beautiful salon of the main house an exhibition of dolls made of leaves like those I have described in this book. They were made by the young male Assistant Manager and ranged from a replica of Queen Elizabeth I to one of Josephine Baker. Slavery was abolished in the French Colonies, including Martinique, in 1848, six years after this story takes place. As I have described, the period leading up to the abolition was one of change and my fictional hero, Le Comte de Vesonne, is striving to improve working conditions on his sugar plantation. St. Pierre, the ‘Paris of the West Indies’, was destroyed by the eruption of Mont Pelée in 1902 when thirty thousand people were killed in three minutes. Much of it was rebuilt, but its gaiety and commercial importance has been transferred to Fort de France. To me Martinique is one of the most fascinating places in the world.