Based loosely on the authorundefined;s life, this novel recounts the narratorundefined;s journey following the footsteps of his Mauritius-born grandfather, Maxime, who abruptly boarded a boat bound for Madagascar in 1922 and never returned. Michaundefined#235;l Ferrier tells a tale of discovery as well as the elusive, colorful story of Maximeundefined;s life in Madagascar, which included a stint as an acrobat in a traveling circus and, later, as a diver and artist on marine expeditions. Maximeundefined;s story is one of adventure but also romance. He falls in love with a refined young Pauline Nuundefined#241;es, Ferrierundefined;s grandmother, whose well-to-do family of Indian merchants owns a hotel famous for playing the latest musicundefined;including American jazzundefined;and throwing popular dances and parties. Over Seas of Memory weaves these personal stories with the islandundefined;s history, including its period as a Vichy-governed territory at the center of what was termed undefined;Project Madagascar,undefined; the Nazi plan to relocate Europeundefined;s Jewish population to the island.
As Ferrier interlaces his familyundefined;s intimate story with the larger story of colonialismundefined;s lasting and complicated impactundefined;including the racial and ethnic divisions it fomentedundefined;he engages with critical issues in contemporary France concerning national and cultural identity.
