BOOK REVIEW: "Echoes from the Oasis" by A.R. Tirant

I want to believe that each time a person picks up a book to read, he or she will take something of value away with them due to this experience.


A Book Review.....

"WE THE SEEKERS OF KNOWLEDGE....."

.....as seen through my eyes!


By: Jacqueline E. Hughes

As a writer and a traveler, my goal is to constantly be aware of new places to add to my list of future adventures, future stories. Less than two weeks ago I stumbled across a rare find when I was introduced to one of the most beautifully written and verbally illustrated novels I have read so far this year. I truly discovered an island Paradise along with a new author and friend by the name of, Rosie.

A BEAUTIFUL SEYCHELLE SETTING

 Author, A.R. Tirant, known as Rosie to her many fans, has brilliantly whisked us, her readers, away to the original Garden of Eden in her debut novel "Echoes from the Oasis." This isolated archipelago, introduced to us in the year 1912 as the small British colony of the Seychelles, is made-up of 115-islands located in the middle of the Indian Ocean and lies 932 miles east of mainland Southeast Africa. We are placed here just a short time before the onset of WWI when we meet Anna Savy on the day of her sixteenth birthday and, shortly afterwards, she participates in the at-home birth of her baby sister, Eliane. Having witnessed this life-threatening birth, Anna seeks comfort in the bosom of her island, her personal oasis where she is passionately embraced by nature, in order to ponder her imminent future of becoming a wife and mother herself.

Navigating the hillside path to find solace from the real world, Anna looks down on the white sands outlining the Bay and village of Beau-Vallon, her home. Later, sitting among the cinnamon bushes, beneath the bodanmyen tree and near the cleansing waterfall of her own island oasis, high up the hillside, this strong, young woman decides, against all odds, to use nature to show her the way.  Within this soothing setting, she soon finds solace with her decision to become a nurse. After all, Mother Nature had formed the Seychelles out of her love and provided these beautiful islands with unique flora and fauna and an abundance of freshwater streams and white coastlines all surrounded by crystal blue waters. The healing effects of nature served as Anna's guide to help heal the Seychellois, the people of these picturesque islands.

At a time in her island's history when white girls were told they could not work outside of the home, Anna, after making her decision, saw her plans come to fruition only three months later. With the help of Madame Josephine who deals in black magic (grigri), a scheme, using nothing more than the power of suggestion, is hatched.  Its purpose is to enlighten Anna's parents, Albert and Therese, as to the benefits of Anna's new vocation as directed through the eyes of the Catholic sisters who run the Victoria Hospital. With its success, Anna felt free for the first time in her young life.

With freedom comes consequences from the decisions we make and Anna must face the results of her actions when she falls desperately in love with a young man, Louis du Barré, whose status in the community exceeds her own station. The du Barré family epitomizes the French colonization of the islands and its African slave roots with regards to its history and commerce prior to English rule. Louis's love for Anna is reciprocated and this rich and complex story weaves together strong characters who are compelled by their religious beliefs, loyalties to home and family, traditions and superstitions, along with individual guilt and failure. All the while, strong winds of change are blowing across the seas from Europe and creating 'echoes of disturbance' within the simple, plantation lifestyle of this humble island paradise.

THE AUTHOR'S OWN CREOLE DELIGHTS

Ms. Tirant offers her unique knowledge of the history of the Seychelles, her people and culture as she introduces us to a variety of island traditions, feasts and open markets selling local goods and refreshment. She broadens our knowledge of island work ethics and explains to us how crops, synonymous with the Seychelles, have been grown, harvested and exported by the island people for years. We become intoxicated by the essence of the island itself as we take on the role of tourist navigating and exploring via Ms. Tirant's beautiful descriptive qualities that flow seamlessly across each page. The reader becomes mesmerized by her gentle storytelling which allows her characters to take on life and permits the scenery of the islands to engulf us within its various textures and smells.   



THE AUTHOR AS A YOUNG NURSE
AT VICTORIA HOSPITAL

Ms. Tirant, a Seychellois herself, born and raised on the main island of Mahé within a Catholic upbringing and the eldest of eight children, became a nurse there in her youth. She can identify with all of the strong, formidable woman who had to come to terms with a difficult island life where fresh water was hauled to the houses in buckets from the nearby stream and beliefs and attitudes of right and wrong were molded by Roman Catholic principles and ideals.

Men became the provider for the family and women gave birth, maintained their homes, raised the children and became the nucleus of family life. However, in 1912, woman had very little if any say in the important decisions making up the complex world outside of the home. Ms. Tirant's main character, Anna, was slowly breaking through this stereotypical image as echoes of change vibrated across years of island life and traditions.

I became fascinated by Ms. Tirant's subtle usage of 'echoes' themselves that dominated the backdrop of her book. Listing just a few of them, I can still hear the echoes of bells, drums, heartbeats, waves crashing on the beach, of silence, footsteps upon a ship's deck, of a cry of agony and, of course, echoes of changing times.....

Ms. Tirant has seamlessly united the history and people of the Seychelles and delivered a sensitive and extremely powerful first novel that can deliver a 'punch' when it has to yet exposes the softer side of love and human nature within its magical storyline. I highly recommend "Echoes from the Oasis" to all readers. Through Rosie, the Seychelles really do become an island oasis; our own retreat guaranteed to shelter, provide and allow our dreams to become reality.

THE AUTHOR: A.R. TIRANT (ROSIE)

Notes about the Author:

A.R. Tirant emigrated to England over twenty years ago from her native village, Beau-Vallon, on the northern coast of Mahé Island in the Seychelles.  Today, Rosie lives in West Sussex, England with her husband, Stan Longhurst. Rosie has two grown sons and a beautiful young granddaughter who happens to be named, Anna. Rosie and Stan travel back to the Seychelles each year when she conducts more research into the history of her island, and makes note of the constant changes going on there each visit. She is currently tucked away in West Sussex hard at work on her sequel to "Echoes" which will be entitled "Under Stormy Skies" where her brilliant cast of characters are deeply embedded in the horrors of World War I. With any luck, we may see it launched sometime around Christmas of this year, 2015!

For myself, Rosie has become the world's Ambassador of these Creole islands of the Seychelles representing their colorful people and culture. Through "Echoes,'' she has opened our eyes to the logistics of the islands and created a positive and welcoming embrace between the uninformed and the informed which, I know, will draw tourists there for many years to come.

"Echoes from the Oasis" was published in May of 2014 and made the "Amazon Best Sellers" list in January. Rosie received a wonderful write-up in her local village press, Cuckfield Life Magazine, where they describe the success of her debut novel. Discover the Seychelles and Rosie at any of the Links below:


Author Website Link:  www.seychelleshistoricalnovels.com

Amazon UK Link:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Echoes-Oasis-A-R-Tirant/dp/099280860X

Amazon US Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Echoes-Oasis-A-R-Tirant/dp/099280860X

Twitter Link:  https://twitter.com/shnnovels

Facebook Author Page:  https://facebook.com/seychellesauthorincuckfield



Copyright © 2015 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved

ALONE

 A series of essays.....

Love, Laugh and Live for Today!

.....as seen through my eyes!



By: Jacqueline E. Hughes


As the old adage suggests and its truth has no boundaries,
we come into this world alone and leave it in the very same manner.....

"We enter the world alone, we leave the world alone," is a quote by the English writer and historian, James Anthony Froude in the mid 1800's.

Orson Welles added his own spin when he said, "We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone."

Variations on a theme.

Waking-up each morning for the past several weeks, I have been haunted by these thoughts. Closing my eyes at night, tucking my pillow firmly beneath my neck and curling-up in the fetal position, I am haunted by these thoughts.

Why?

I tell myself I am not alone.....  The joyful birds are singing as I open my eyes! Their  sweet music carries me through my simple morning routines. My first sip of coffee tastes much sweeter because of my backyard concert.

I am not alone..... The lively conversation between husband and wife of a gentle, spring evening clings to me like a second skin. Plotting-out, planning and dreaming of a time closer to our grandchildren.

Or, am I?

The realization strikes me as if it were a hammer atop my head....I am successfully 'creating the illusion' that best fits within my life's mold. I see the fine line between 'actual' and 'contrived.' It divides my thoughts like a gossamer web stretching between two solid objects. 

"Only through our love and friendship......."

I have no control. The pieces float along the gentle breeze and match one shape into another adapted for accuracy and exactness. We are instruments of the grand illusion...in the moment.

On the outside.

Ahhh....Alone!

We remain individual thinkers, dreamers, artists and imagineers of our own world. Alone, I see the color blue. Alone, you see the color gold. Alone, I am bombarded and assailed by words and phrases. Alone, you create beauty from stone and mortar.

To be able to differentiate between good and evil, we are alone when we choose love over hatred or, to stand alone or follow the masses or, to employ 'common sense' or become a loose cannon....causing damage to this beautiful planet and the people we share it with.

Do we believe in feminism or, do we crush equality between men and woman like so many generations of organized religions and cultures have before us?

Will honest souls prevail and black-hearted souls be crushed by their own cowardly deeds?

When I sit upon the edge of my bed in the cool darkness of the morning and chant "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to my God in appreciation for so many things.....I know my words are heard.

These are my current thoughts. This is what I feel and know and question as I navigate this world....alone.

I think I now know what has been eating at my soul lately and I am so grateful for writing down these words that have served to show me some understanding.

Thanks, also, to you both, James and Orson.

Simply, Self-Love.

Vironika Tugaleva, an inspirational speaker and healing coach from the Ukraine, sums it up for me by saying, "The greatest tool of self-love is self-awareness. Once you truly know yourself, love is the only option."

If love and friendship creates the illusion, for the moment, that we are not alone, then we must learn to be our own best friend and love ourselves with the passion and grace that we would afford to every living soul around us. We are all in this game of life together.

In conclusion:
We are alone with our thoughts and our ideas. We create a glass-domed world around us....to protect our thoughts and ideas. But, we must watch our own thoughts constantly because they will become the words of people we draw to ourselves.

Love...Laugh...Live today! Tomorrow we will leave this world, alone. I can only hope and pray that all of us make the best choices for everyone in the meantime.....!!





Savor the Beauty Around Us

Copyright © 2015 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved