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Island of the Passion

by Wendy Brown and Chuck Hitt

230 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-0009; ISBN 1-55369-196-2; US$26.00, C$29.52, EUR21.50, £15.00

The story of the tragedy that befell a Mexican garrison and their families stationed on an island, when their government stopped supplying them.

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about the book      about the author      excerpt      catalogue info

About the Book     In the late nineteenth century, Mexico and France laid claim to Clipperton Island. In 1908 Mexico places a garrison of men and their families on the island to reinforce their claim.     All goes well until 1914 when, because of the revolution that tears Mexico apart, the garrison is no longer supplied. Scurvy claims many of their lives and in a desperate attempt to save those that are left, the Captain tries to row a boat for help. He perishes along with three men he took with him.     The lone man, left on the island, goes crazy and declares himself king. For twenty-two months he rapes, tortures and murders some of the women and children of the garrison. Finally, two of the women are successful in killing him.     A United States warship, looking for Germans, rescues the survivors and returns them to Mexico and safety.

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About the Author     The Island of the Passion was written by a father/daughter team.     Wendy Brown has written several novels, mostly in the romance category. She has years of experience in a writer's critique group. Wendy holds an Associate of Technology degree. Her great passion is breeding and raising Arabian horses. She is married, has three children and lives in Granite Falls, Washington.     Chuck Hitt has a strong background in writing. He wrote a column for some years for a small weekly newspaper and participates in several writing groups. He is a retired educator and lives with his wife in Springfield, Oregon.

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Excerpt

    Picture a tropical atoll. All sorts of mental images come to mind, including beautiful palms swaying lazily in the pleasant breeze, inviting white beaches begging to be walked upon and the aroma of exotic flowers teasing one's nose. For decades, through books and movies, this image has been honed. We've been led to believe that the living is easy with coconuts, bananas, and other exotic fruits in ready supply and pure lagoons teeming with fish. All of these together give the impression of a paradise waiting to be taken advantage of by those who want to escape to a more idyllic life.
    Clipperton Island, for years called Isla de la Pasion by the Mexican government, does not measure up. Clipperton is a bleak, humid, desolate place. The water trapped in its lagoon is stagnant, odorous and poisonous. Fierce storms batter the island. Huge swells slam against the coral reef relentlessly as if trying to blot out this forsaken land. Their continuous roar is heard all over the tiny atoll, driving more than one man to madness.
    During daylight hours, masses of screeching, guano splattering birds populate the island. At night, land crabs attack everything they can reach in their almost futile search for something to eat. These creatures are so numerous that on moonlit nights the terrain seethes with their orange tint.
    And always, giant white sharks patrol off shore, just waiting for a hapless victim to swim nearby.
    In spite of all its drawbacks, both France and Mexico laid claim to Clipperton. To reinforce its rights, in 1908 Mexico stationed a small garrison of soldiers along with their wives and children on the island. Furthermore, they put a navigational light atop 67-foot-high Clipperton Rock. This light was extinguished in 1914.
    In the beginning years of the Mexican Revolution, every four months, a ship would arrive from Acapulco bearing necessary foodstuffs and supplies. None of the settlers ever doubted its life-giving arrival. Not, that is, until 1914 when the garrison was no longer visited by the ship from Mexico. They did not know that they had been forgotten by their people, purposely marooned by a new and cruel Mexican government, left to fend for themselves on an island that cannot sustain human life.
    With starvation imminent, the soldiers started dying off from scurvy. Finally, a rescue mission is attempted, but it is too late. The remaining people, all women and children save one demented light keeper, begin a desperate new battle to stay alive. Now rape and murder add a new twist to the cruel battle for survival. In the end, only one person intends to be alive. If he has his way, he will leave no witnesses. Clipperton Island-the Island of the Passion. Here is the story of those brave people ...

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Catalogue Information

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