The Islanders: The Chronicles of Touperdu

The second in The Chronicles of Touperdu historical fantasy series finds the Roselyns and Dudays settled in their new home but still challenged by the island itself

The Isle of Touperdu is a wonderful place, bursting with natural beauty, resources, and legend. Immigrating there gave New Orleans chef Amadeo Roselyn the opportunity to open his own restaurant, The Rose, now considered a crown jewel of the Island's newfound gentility. True, shortly after arrival he had to stand between the little Duday girl and the mayoress' brutal henchmen, but that was five years ago, Amadeo is now a respected and wealthy islander who surely has nothing to fear from Madame Reckoner's thugs. And though it means concealing the true extent of their supernatural "talent," the raffish Dudays have also done well for themselves through fortunetelling, elixirs, necromancy, gambling, and black-market sales of the liquor "vinjoie."

But what the island has given, the island can take away. Has Touperdu truly left its piratical past behind? Does being an islander mean denying the evidence of your own senses? In The Islanders, both the Roselyns and the Dudays must confront the limits of conscience, loyalty, and magic, on an island where a murdered family cat, a boy's dropped marble, a little girl's necklace, even a hastily scribbled recipe, can cause fate to pivot and lives to change.

Pam Troy worked for twenty years in the Events Department at San Francisco’s Mechanics’ Institute, one of the oldest libraries on the West Coast. Though she has resided in San Francisco for most of her adult life, she was born and raised in Louisiana, and her fascination with that state’s history, culture and folklore went into creating the world of Touperdu. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies likeSpace and Time, Crimson Fog, State of Horror: Louisiana, andAnother Dimension. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, a cat, and far too many books.