Author’s Note
178 Words
Author’s NoteThe Camargue lies on the coast between the Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence in France. Often described as its own little country, almost 90 per cent of the 360-sq-mile delta is protected as a National Park, home to dozens of unique species of flora and fauna, animals and birds, which attract thousands of visitors a year. When I visited in 1975, I was entranced and captivated by its beauty, but distressed, as were so many other people back then, by the encroachment of the rice planters.
At the time the Camargue grew 800.000 hundredweight of rice annually and this was increasing year by year.
This caused predictions that the Camargue would totally disappear within ten years, losing something unique and very wonderful.
Luckily this has not happened and the area is still a realm of unspoilt nature with salt steppes, reed beds, lakes and pools with their flamingos, little cygnets, black bulls and white horses.
In this novel I have tried to convey the magic and mystery of this exquisite wilderness, which I believe to be part of the soul of France.
- Writer
