The Island of Sorcerers - Nicole Viloteau

From her stays in Madagascar, Nicole Viloteau has brought back unpublished documents on witchcraft, the cult of the dead, possessions, the power of love potions, aphrodisiac plants, and poisons. She has attended secret ceremonies where, ordinarily, the vazaha, the foreigners, are not welcomed. "I did not yet know how much Madagascar is a powerful enchantment that leads down paths where dream, mystery, divination, and sorcery intertwine. An enchantment as red as the silk shrouds of kings and queens. Red as the ceremonial robes of sorcerers. Red as the laterite that clothes the highlands of the island. Red as the blood of sacrificial victims. Red as this strange passion that would consume me entirely." Cursed mirrors, talismans, wandering souls, bloodthirsty mythical creatures draw the reader far away, into remote lands. Long marches, potholed paths, mountains, scrublands, deserts, jungles, and ocean weave the backdrop for this extraordinary adventure.