Literature about Mauritius

Paul et Virginie

Paul et Virginie is a novel by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre that is set on the island of Mauritius and belongs to the core literature in French libraries. It is also the national novel of the Mauritians. No other piece of literature is more famous than the romantic novel by the Frenchman Saint-Pierre, who spent about three years on Mauritius (1768 to 1771). First published in 1788, the work addresses the issues of divided social classes and, furthermore, Mauritian society and its slavery.

The plot: The young lovers Paul and Virginie grew up in Pamplemousses, close to the Botanical Garden. When they were children, Virginie had to go to France to finish her school education. Paul and Virginie suffered terribly from the distance, so Virginie decided to return home. On the return journey, just off the north coast of Mauritius, the sailing ship “St. Géran” was caught in a whirlwind and sank. Virginie did not reach dry land, as she drowned in the ocean.

To get in the right frame of mind for your holiday in Mauritius, read Paul et Virginie: it brings the lifestyle, the beautiful countryside and the issues of the island to your home. Once you are on the island, you will be surprised how often you see places mentioned in the book, for instance many monuments, like the statue in the Curepipe Town Hall Garden, Cap Malheureux (where Virginie drowned after the shipwreck) or even the town of Baie du Tombeau (where the sea washed her ashore).

The novel is in the public domain, so you will find many editions in French and in translation. A free English translation by Helen Maria Williams, “Paul and Virginia”, can be read at Project Gutenberg.