A deeply moving and revelatory reading experience the essays collected in Portrait of an
Island on Fire form a searing account of Mauritius at a crucial moment in its history.
Unceasing in its critiques of racist patriarchal abuses of power in its unpicking of the ills
at the core of contemporary Mauritian society and their roots the collection is a milestone in
thinking about the lasting social and political effects of colonialism and how they play out at
the level of government policy the handling of environmental issues in schools in hospitals
in families in language. For all its well-placed anger Ariel Saramandi's sparklingly
intelligent and intimate debut is full of love and momentum - a push for a better future for
Mauritius and by extension for the world.
