Harare Review of Books

176 pages.

First published February 20, 2024 (Restless Books)

Fiction.

Thank you to Edelweiss and to Restless Books for affording me the pleasure of reading the very first Réunionese novel. Louis Timagène Houat was exiled to France after a botched trial for sedition; he had allegedly been involved in a plot to unsettle the settlers on his home island. In France, he became a physician, and also wrote this novel.

Written in 1844 and newly translated into English by Aqiil Gopee and Jeffrey Diteman, The Maroons is the story of four enslaved people who plan an escape. They’ve been brought to Réunion from Madagascar and other places. One young man manages to reach a remote part of the island where he meets a couple: a black man, Frême, and his white wife, with their young child. Frême was born free, but the couple has been living in the bush after their escape from a place where their relationship was frowned upon. Later, the escaped enslaved man is recaptured and taken back to his cruel master, but he escapes again. However, the escape attempt of his three friends as they attempt to recross the ocean fails; they are caught, and are set to be executed as an example to other enslaved people.

While I did not find the plot particularly engaging, The Maroons paints a vivid picture of the cruelty of slavery in French territories, and Réunion Island in particular. It is insightful to read about Frême’s early life and eventual self-exile to the mountains where he lives among other maroon (although we don’t meet them in the book, and only hear rumours of them). Also important is that this is a portrayal of the slave trade on the eastern side of Africa, across the Indian Ocean, neglected in literature and already partly forgotten in collective memory. Therefore, I recommend The Maroons for the snapshot of important history that it provides.

Thanks again to the publisher for the review copy.

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