Crossing the Mangrove

''An extraordinary storyteller'' Bernardine Evaristo

''People say that on the first night Francis Sancher spent in Rivi- au Sel the wind in its temper screamed down from the mountains...''

Francis Sancher always said he would come to an unnatural end. So when this handsome newcomer to the Guadeloupean village of Rivi- au Sel is found dead, face down in the mud, no one is particularly surprised. Loved by some - especially women - and reviled by others, Francis was an enigmatic figure. Where did he come from? What caused his strange nocturnal wanderings? What devils haunted him? As the villagers come to pay their respects, they each reveal another piece of the mystery behind his life and death - and their own buried secrets and stories come to light.

''The grand queen, the empress, of Caribbean literature'' Fiammetta Rocco, Guardian