|
|
THE FACTS IN THE FICTION
Though the story is fictional, it draws
on the lives of real people in real places.
I've known the Ile de Batz since a family
friend moved there with her two children many years ago. On family vacations and
choir tours to the island, I would sit at her kitchen table with an assortment of
Breton cooking in front of me and absorb the stories she told about her difficult
insertion into the closed circle of locals. She tried everything to befriend them:
aerobics classes on the beach (open to tourists and locals), fish mongering, participation
in island politics, and even bringing in a small missions choir every summer to
perform in the usually deserted Catholic church. We often filled it to capacity,
speaking God's Truth into a godless and superstitious land. Those are indelible
memories for me.
Unfortunately, nothing ever thawed the public
perception of this "foreigner" from Paris. Though islanders would greet her husband
(a native son) when they passed them on the street, they always studiously ignored
her. The stale bread and general nastiness Casey encounters are all based on my
friend's own experiences. Yet she persists in her daily struggle to live in this
place she loves so dearly. Today, she owns a small restaurant in which she works
endlessly, catering to the very people who have made her life so difficult.
Why place the story in the Ile de Batz?
It seemed a natural fit to confront Casey's state of mind with this remote, unfriendly
island. I found the juxtaposition fascinating. I also wanted to introduce my readers
to a small "corner" of France they might never have discovered on their own. As
unfriendly as the islanders can be, the Ile de Batz remains one of the most beautiful,
rugged and authentic places I have ever known. There is a folk tale that the air
around the Ile de Batz is overloaded with iodes (don't ask!) and that those tend
to mess with one's emotions. I'm usually pretty wary of tall tales, but must admit
that on every visit I've made to the island, I've found myself prone to the kind
of extreme emotional responses that are rare indeed for me! So who knows?? You'll
have to check it out for yourselves! They do treat tourists better than their more
permanent intruders, so you'll likely get away without any scars!
There are other facts woven into the fiction
of "The Edge of Tidal Pools". I'll leave it to you to discern what they are. But
the greatest of them is this: God is present in even the most desolate places, whether
they be in our minds or in the waters off the coast of France.
|
|
|
|
|
|
