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Last Days of Last Island | Praisesong for the Widow | Island in a Storm
On 10 August 1856 the Gulf of Mexico reared up and hurled itself over Last Island, near New Orleans. The storm essentially split the island in half and swept much of it away, including its inhabitants, wealthy vacationers, and its resort hotel. There were few survivors.
Lafcadio Hearn used these basic historical facts to create Chita. Originally published in 1889, this long out-of-print novella is a minor masterpiece that is by turns mysterious, mesmerizing, and tragic. In the aftermath of the storm, a Spanish fisherman wades into the Gulf to pick through debris. Among the bodies, he finds one that is yet alive, a young Creole girl. Her parents are presumed to have died in the storm.
Raised by the fisherman's family, Chita grows into a strong, independent young woman. Her story is counterpointed by that of her lost father, a doctor who thinks that his daughter is dead and, as a result, devotes himself to helping others in need. When he comes to Last Island to help stem a yellow fever epidemic, he encounters Chita. The consequences are devastating.
This beautifully lush, ornately styled tale of south Louisiana in the nineteenth century is a haunting novel that is both impressionistic in its evocation of nature and realistic in its characterizations and depictions of life in this region.
Jefferson Humphries' introduction puts Chita in perspective, gives an overview of critical reactions to the novel from its initial publication to the present, and provides a capsule biography of Hearn and a commentary on the stylistic influences on his work.
About: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original.
About: On 10 August 1856 the Gulf of Mexico reared up and hurled itself over Last Island, near New Orleans.
About: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original.
About: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original.
About: Hearn paints a colorful portrait of life in the marshy Gulf Coast city of New Orleans, focusing on a young girl adopted by a Spanish family.
About: Travelling south from New Orleans to the Islands, you pass through a strange land into a strange sea, by various winding waterways.
About: Travelling south from New Orleans to the Islands, you pass through a strange land into a strange sea, by various winding waterways.
About: This book contains three stories, "The Legend of L'Ile Derniere," "Out of the Sea's Strength," and "The Shadow of the Tide.
About: Chita: A Memory of Last Island
About: Lafcadio Hearn lived an eventful life -- he was born on a Greek island to a British father and a mother of noble Kytheran-Greek lineage; as a small child he was sent home to be raised in Ireland by relatives.
About: This book contains three stories, "The Legend of L'Ile Derniere," "Out of the Sea's Strength," and "The Shadow of the Tide.
About: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original.
About: Lafcadio Hearn was an English writer who was born in Greece, lived in Ireland, and then moved to the United States.
About: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original.
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