A powerfully redemptive novel about one woman's search for herself--from Guadeloupe to France to the United StatesRanelise is a cook in the small village of La Pointe in Guadeloupe where she rescues a teenage girl from suicide by drowning. The girl, Reynalda Titane, lives at the local jeweler's grand house where her mother, Nina, is a maid. Reynalda is pregnant and in a state of despair. Ranelise cares for her and the child, christened Marie-Noelle, but Reynalda soon flees to France, intent upon getting the education to allow her to rise above her mother's fate.Desirada is the story of Marie-Noelle and her quest to understand the mother who abandoned her, and discover the identity of her father, despite the opposing stories from her mother and her grandmother. It is also the story of generations of island women and the pursuit of a meaningful life despite a tainted personal history.Desirada was awarded the prestigious Prix Carbet de la Caraibe in 1998 given for the best book by a Caribbean author. It is Ms. Conde's twelfth novel.