Chronicle of a Lost Kingdom triggered, as soon as it hit the shelves, a veritable media frenzy. This text, at once sensual and mythological, reads like the work of a master craftsman shaped by a fascinating life devoted to writing. Dominique Bellier
In *Chronicle of a Lost Kingdom*, Ananda Devi presents her epic ode to Mauritius. Inspired by a family story rooted in the south of the island and gathered during fieldwork for her Ph.D. in anthropology, she had kept it close to her heart as the starting point for a future novel. She worked on it, then set it aside. She says she didn’t feel experienced enough in the past to unfold this four-generation family saga, which tells the story of the birth of an isolated village, Le Bouchon, freed from the yoke of slavery and indentured labor. To achieve this, it took her thirty novels and many short stories, along with a patient compilation of everything she wanted to share about this country that lives within her—combining an awareness of history’s lingering effects, an intimate knowledge of lived experience, and the confident hope she imbues in many of her characters.
While rooted in a form of social realism inherited from Mauritius’s history—from the period following abolition through to the period following World War I— this text reconstructs, through a forbidden love and the child it brings into the world, a new Indian Ocean utopia. While it draws on the Lemurian myth and the mountain-carving giants of Chazal, it brings these tales to life through its rich references to the modern world. The narrative’s momentum and poetic flair draw the reader in, keeping them captivated from start to finish. A finalist for the Goncourt and Renaudot prizes, this novel is one of the standout works of the French literary season, having received widespread acclaim from the media.
