Chita: A Memory of Last Island [Paperback]

Lafcadio Hearn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2007

A novella based on the hurricane in 1856 first published in Harper's Monthly in 1888

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

A lush, evocative novel about a mysterious girl who survives a devastating hurricane in old Louisiana --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Born in Greece to an Irish soldier and a Greek mother, Lafcadio Hearn emigrated to the United States at the age of nineteen. While working as a newspaperman in Cincinnati, Ohio, Hearn married a black woman, which was then illegal, and fled to New Orleans to escape prosecution. Once there, he began to work for the New Orleans Item. During his time in New Orleans, Hearn published several books while continuing his work as a journalist. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Echo Library (April 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406817562
• ISBN-13: 978-1406817560
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,962,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Novel of the Lousiana Bayous, October 13, 2003

By 

gac1003 "gac1003" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chita: A Memory of Last Island (Paperback)

A young girl, a survivor of a devastating tropical storm that hit the Louisiana coast, is rescued by a Feliu, a Spanish fisherman, and his wife Carmen. Unable to discover who she is or where she comes from, they take her in, calling her Chita (short for Conchita), and raise her as their own child. Chita learns about the sea, learns Spanish and mixes it with her own Creole patois. Her father, whom everyone thought was dead, coincidentally meets her toward the conclusion of the book, but dies before being able to tell her.

There's not much else to the story. Lafcadio Hearn was passionate about languages, and that comes across clearly with this short novel. The descriptions of the islands, the waterways, the plant life are wonderfully detailed. Also, his telling of the storm and the havoc it wreaks are quite vivid and probably the best description of a storm in any book.

Good as the descriptions are, they sometimes drag on and seem unnecessary, especially at the beginning of the story. And, as I said before, there's not much to the story. Events happen and that's that. No real conflict or resolution.

The novel is a great look at the environment of the Louisiana bayous is the 1860's, but left me wanting something more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Authors Don't Write Like This Anymore, March 25, 2007

By 

Cadenza "Macintosh addict" (Shreveport, Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chita: A Memory of Last Island (Banner Book) (Hardcover)

I have a keen interest in both hurricanes and South Louisiana. After checking Chita out of the library and reading it, I decided I wanted it for my personal library. The writing is very florid and 19th century style...I would call it "romantic". The vocabulary is not dumbed down like so many of todays works of fiction. The story is evocative and touching.