Why Join?

  • Add New Books

  • Write a Review

  • Backpack Reading Lists

  • Newsletter Updates

Join Now

Novel set on the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean

19th October 2018

Tropic of Violence by Nathacha Appanah, novel set on the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. Translated by Geoffrey Strachan.

Mayotte is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the coast of Mozambique. It became a department and region of France in 2011, but the culture and traditions are rooted in the neighbouring Comoros Islands. The Mayotte archipelago is surrounded by a coral barrier reef, which makes it a popular place to dive.

Novel set on the island of Mayotte

This slim volume of around 160 pages landed on my desk and sometimes it is quite nice just to spend a couple of hours, no more, immersed in a novel – novella even – that is set somewhere so very different.

This is the short story of Moïse who comes to Mayotte in the arms of his mother as an illegal immigrant. Waiting in the wings at the hospital where they land is a nurse, Marie, who is desperate for a child. For her the years of fruitful child bearing age are passing by, month by month she becomes more sad and upset at the lack of pregnancy. Her husband soon abandons her for another woman leaving Marie in a state of ever increasing despair.

Moïse’s birth mother abandons her child into the care of Marie who raises him as her own. Critically, however, Moïse suffers from an abnormality, which means he has one dark eye and one green eye. A condition that in mythology is indicative of the presence of Djinns (spirits, who in this instance are malign). Marie passes away and at the age of 15, Moïse finds himself in the Gaza favela, where every nefarious practice know to man is rife. Bruce is the don under whose auspices terror and  mayhem proliferate.

A teenager with implied abandonment issues is at the heart of this narrative but is that enough to sustain a story of fracture and brutality? There is an abundance of detail in the storytelling, overriding the breathy and at times insubstantial storyline. The book has garnered reviews that it will “…wring out your heart with its otherworldly poetry”..and …”the strength and elegance of the novel will take your breath away” but for me it just didn’t pack the punch I anticipated.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

The author is not currently on Social Media

Do come and join team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction)

Access the TripFiction database for more books set in The Indian Ocean!

Subscribe to future blog posts

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *