Black Rock: The Story of an Island, an Exile and an Emperor

Should ambition cease with death? Napoleon Bonaparte doesn’t think so. His ghost is actually hungrier than ever. The ex-emperor has no intention of allowing his premature end to thwart his destiny or threaten his legacy. But death holds unexpected surprises for the restless spirit of the nineteenth-century’s most infamous tactician. Set in 1821 on the remote Atlantic island of St Helena during the week between Napoleon’s death and burial, this historical who-done-it examines what powerful men do in narrowed circumstances and what ordinary people do when their lives collide with the exceptional. Louise Hoole, who lived on St Helena as a child, draws upon the letters and memoirs of those exiled on the island to bring to life the complex machinations of those who made up Napoleon’s last court.

Winner of the 2015 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold for cover design, fiction.