Seven Dreams of Elmira — Patrick Chamoiseau

Cultural Writing. Folklore. Carribbean Studies. Translated from the French by Mark Polizzotti. Intoxicating in its language, lush in its evocation of Creole island culture, SEVEN DREAMS OF ELMIRA: A TALE OF MARTINIQUE is a vivid and hallucinatory fable, written by widely acclaimed author Patrick Chamoiseau and illustrated with stunning photographic portraits by Jean Luc-Laguardigue. Based on interviews, observation, and invention, this story takes as its canvas the everyday lives of the workers at the old St. Etienne rum distillery in the hills of Martinique, and the strange vision of the beautiful Elmira who appears to a select few.