The Last Moon - Deann Lubell

LAST MOON SUMMARY On May 8, 1902, Mt. Pelee on the West Indies island of Martinique near the seaport town of St. Pierre erupted in a cloud of gas and fire in one of the most awesome and destructive pyrotechnic displays ever offered by nature. Four minutes later, thirty thousand citizens lay dead or dying, and the town engulfed in flames. Mother Nature was not entirely to blame for this disaster. In truth, the real culprits were the rather more deplorable traits found in Human Nature. If not for the dishonesty and corruption of officials who placed politics, greed, and racial intolerance above the welfare of the people, this devastating catastrophe did not have to happen. The Last Moon remains true to historical facts and personal testimonies. The main characters presented in this novel are either composites of real individuals who lived in Martinique prior to the eruption or actual people who influenced the turn of events. Also historically genuine are the Creole language, clothing, mix of races, diversified lifestyles, corrupt politics, racial discrimination, whorehouses, blackmagic, clergy, plantations, waterfront, plagues, floods, earthquakes, tidal-waves, lava and mud flows, volcanic eruptions, foreign ships, deadly snakes, mutant insects, lush topography, and the before-and-after sequence of the 1902 tragedy. Dramatically captured in this exotic saga are acts of friendship, forbidden love, lust, pride, gluttony, cruelty, corruption, mass murder, bravery, sacrifice, survival, faith, and hope