El monstre de Santa Helena / The Monster on Saint Helena
Novel , 2022
La Campana
Pages: 256
A remote island. A monster. The greatest general in history.
1819. The Marquise Delphine de Sabran and her illustrious lover, the writer François-René de Chateaubriand, visit Napoleon Bonaparte on the island of Saint Helena, where the emperor is living out the last years of his life under English arrest. Delphine, a famous courtesan, longs to meet the greatest man of her time but the emperor is nothing like the idealized hero she expected to meet, and Saint Helena is a rat-infested, grey, ugly island that seems to be deranged by the cursed influence of its famous prisoner.
A sailor's legend warns visitors that Napoleon is not the only monster they will find. Another much terrifying and bloodthirsty creature is about to sow panic on the island.
“An allegory that offers a reflection on the driving forces underlying men’s ambition, power, fear and vanity – a reflection that has lost none of its relevance despite the fact that the setting is the beginning of the nineteenth century.” El Periódico
“A speech about power, evil and tyranny, where Piñol is very effective in distributing intrigue and tension.” El País
“A novel that travels to the end of the world to put love and ideals to the test, transforming the historical into the fantastic.” The New Barcelona Post