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 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.
Eloquent, beautifully written, grave and funny: all at once. Napoleon haunts the island, and the island haunts everyone else, including the novel's author... Black Rock reads as many things, and one of them is as a love letter to St Helena. - Fiona Shaw, author Tell it to the Bees & A Stone's Throw.