by Zee Monodee
A few facts about the trilogy & Mauritius, location
of this series
- The
Island Girls trilogy follows the 3 Hemant sisters – Lara, Neha, Diya – over the
span of the 2000-2010 decade, chronicling the changing face of the Mauritian
society over that crucial period.
- Book
1, The Other Side, is Lara’s tale
when she returns to Mauritius as a divorcee. Suddenly tagged with the scarlet
letter of divorce, she reaches a crossroads when she meets the one that got away,
Eric Marivaux, a white Mauritian native. Fear of society’s reprisals in the
past kept her from going for the ‘elite’, aristocratic-like Eric. Now that she
stands on the other side, is this the impetus she needs to take a chance on
Eric again?
- Book
2, Light My World, is Diya’s
hilarious quest to find Prince Charming in the sea of frogs that is Mauritius
(well, what it is according to her
perception!). Follow her on this desperate mission in September 2013.
- Book
3, Winds of Change, follows Neha as
she must come to terms with widowhood and the fact that her marriage has always
been a sham. In waltzes a man with the ability to make the perfect, ‘saintly’
widow she is burn with passion like she never suspected existed. Will the saint
turn into a sinner, or find her rightful place simply as a woman? Find out in
November 2013.
-
Mauritius is a small tropical island in the southern Indian Ocean. There are no
real natives, and the land has been entirely populated by immigrants. Under
Dutch rule in the 17th century; French rule until 1810; then a
British colony from 1810 to 1968 when it reached independence, the island is a
mix of races and religions.
-
Despite all races, cultures, and religions living together in harmony in what
is termed ‘the rainbow nation’, an unspoken segregation still exists where
descendants of colonizers (mainly the French who remained despite British rule)
and descendants of African slaves, Indian indentured labourers, or Chinese
traders.
- A sectarian outlook still prevails; communities,
ethnicities, and religions, tending to stick together especially in matters of
marriage and love. Interracial and/or multicultural alliances, though existing,
are not the norm and tend to be frowned upon.
Excerpt
from The Other Side:
“You’ll never guess who I met the other day,” she
said.
Sam stopped crying and dried her tears with a delicate
stroke of her finger. Lara couldn’t resist a frown at how the perfect face was
not marred by crying. Trust her perfectionist BFF to use only waterproof
makeup.
Better get back on the topic. Her throat closed for a
second, refusing to allow her vocal chords to utter the sound of his name,
because saying it aloud would change everything.
But she was doing this for Sam. So she leaned forward
and dropped her voice to a low, conspiratorial tone to share the confidence. “I
saw Eric.”
Sam’s eyes grew wide as she bolted upright in her
seat. “Get out of here! You met him? And is it the same person I’m thinking
of?”
Lara smiled, happy to see the mood back to friendly
chatter. She nodded. Sam was the only person who knew of her past with Eric.
“Well, are you just gonna sport such a dumb smile?
Come on, out with it. I want all the details.”
Sam’s voice thrummed with excitement. Lara laughed,
and recounted the meeting at the clinic.
“Okay, the real question I want you to answer. Was he
wearing a wedding ring?” Sam asked as Lara finished her tale.
The elation of sharing the confidence crashed, the
shards wrapping around her like tendrils of choking agony. “He had a ring on
his right hand.”
“So he’s not married.”
“You’ve forgotten how European, and especially French
men wear wedding rings on the right hand.”
“No, but this convention means squat in Mauritius. If
it’s not on the left hand, the ring means nothing.”
Damn it all to hell—could there be hope? Could Eric be
unattached, after everything that had happened?
And where on earth would such confirmation get her?
Eric was out of her league, always had been. The sooner she reinforced that in
her mind, the better.
“Come on, Lara. So this means he could be free, and
what you saw could’ve been a misunderstanding—”
She shot to her feet. “I know what I saw, Sam. The
photo didn’t lie, and the paper said he and his French floozie named Sophie
de-whatever-bollocks were expecting their first child.”
“Still, it doesn’t sound like Eric,” Sam said in a
soft tone.
Lara whirled around to stare at her friend. “Excuse
me? I remember thinking you’re the one who wanted to lead a mob to rip the skin
off his spine when you found out.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Don’t I recall that.”
“Then what the heck are you talking about today,
giving him the benefit of the doubt?”
“Because life is short, you idiot. And we’re all older
and wiser today.” Sam paused. “Tell me, sincerely, would you refuse if you were
given a second chance?”
The slow burn of anger, combined with the bite of
disappointment and the sharp rips of crushed dreams, slashed their way through
her. “You know what? If that happened, I definitely wouldn’t care.”
“The more fool you, then,” Sam said.
“Oh, bugger off, you sanctimonious cow.”
Sam snorted. “Trust me, we are so not done with this
topic.”
And that’s exactly what has me worried. Lara turned her head the
other way. She couldn’t bear for Sam, the woman who’d always read through her
like an open book, to see how a senseless part of her would grab on to the mere
hope of another chance with Eric if one ever came within a hundred miles of
her.
Book 2, Light My World, releases in late
September, while Book 3, Winds of Change, releases in November this year. Stay
tuned for more about this trilogy.
From Mauritius with love,
Zee
