Books published by Papillote Press

A moving coming of age story packed with tropical adventure. - Ros Asquith Teenage twins James and Jerome discover that treasure, buried during the days of slavery, is their rightful inheritance. As the boys de-code the clues that will lead to the treasure, they have some strange encounters: there's a helpful parrot, a ghostly figure from the past and a legless man who can walk; they escape from a falling tower and discover a boiling lake. And, of course, there's also an evil stranger who confronts them in an exciting climax. Abraham's Treasure mixes a classical hunt-the-treasure plot with a hint of magical realism to give a real page-turning quality. The twins are typical teenagers who have some very untypical experiences as they desperately strive to reach the treasure - whatever that may be - before their adversary. Great for boys but girls, too, will identify with the twins and also with Petra, an annoying neighbour who is just as smart as they are. And the wild landscape of Dominica makes it a perfect location for a spot of treasure-hunting. Joanne Skerrett was born and brought up in Dominica. She moved with her family to the United States during the 1980s. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a BA in English and later attended Northeastern University where she earned an MBA. She also holds a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been a journalist on newspapers including the Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune. Joanne lives in Washington DC where she works as a lawyer. Abraham's Treasure is her fifth novel and her first book for young people.

Grittier than TV's 'A Death in Paradise', this crime novel is set in the rural Caribbean (St Lucia) where traditional allegiances and a moribund criminal justice system provide a backdrop to the rape and murder of a young girl. When her father is accused of the crime, her brother joins the police to try and clear their father's name. While the suspect languishes in jail on remand, the young detective makes some alarming discoveries. Thwarted by his mother but supported by his girlfriend, a horrible truth finally emerges.

The first biography of JR Ralph Casimir (1898-1986), a Pan-Africanist and poet from the Caribbean island of Dominica. This biography, lovingly written by his grand-daughter, explores his political and personal life. In particular it examines his involvement with Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) of which he was a founding member, organiser and agent for Garvey's Black Star Line. He committed his life to opposing the discrimination woven in to the British colonial system. A teacher, bookbinder, and lawyer's clerk, he was also a prolific poet and editor of Dominica's first poetry anthology.

Shake Keane (1927-97), musician and poet, was a trend-setting but troubled Caribbean icon. Born in St Vincent, he migrated to London in the early 1950s where he became an important figure in the free-form jazz scene. A return to his birthplace was blighted by politics, and his last decades were spent in New York City and Norway.

On 18 September 2017, a category 5 hurricane, the worst in recorded history, hit the Caribbean island of Dominica. Hurricane Maria destroyed lives and land. Nothing would be the same again. Guabancex explores the complex mix of experiences and emotions, both during and after the event.

"They tell you one thing but you are not free." London in 1802 is a dangerous place for black people. Elizabeth d'Aviniere, the mixed race great-niece of the Lord Chief Justice, who had spent her childhood in his home, now fears for her own children's safety and yearns for her mother, an African-born enslaved woman.

This "magnificent act of scholarship" is a comprehensive author index of poetry, prose (fiction and non-fiction) and drama from the eastern Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. It also includes supporting materials, such as dissertations and critical works, which offer studies of the works of Saint Lucian writers.

A depressed Trinidadian teenager, who has attempted suicide, is sent by her mother to Canada to live with her lesbian aunt. She feels isolated. But with the help of her aunt, a gorgeous-looking boy and her Skyping best friend "back home", she beings to accept her new family. Then her mother arrives. Where then is home?

Elma Napier's love affair with Dominica, then a British colony, began in 1932 when she turned her back on London's high society to build a home in a remote coastal village on that most mysterious and seductive of all Caribbean islands. Black and White Sands is the memoir of her life there - of bohemian house-parties, war and death, smugglers and servants and, above all, of stories inspired by her political life as the only woman in a colonial parliament, her love for the island's turbulent landscapes and her curiosity about the lives and culture of its people.

Witchbroom is a visionary history of a Caribbean Creole family and an island. Its carnival tales of crime and passion are told by the narrator Lavren, who is both male and female.

Gone to Drift is an award-winning coming-of-age adventure story set in Jamaica. Life gets even tougher for Lloyd, a boy from a fishing village, when his grandfather goes missing at sea. When he sets out to find him he has few friends and makes new enemies.

A rare portrayal of life among the Maroons (runaway slaves) and their allies emerges from the evidence in the trials held in Dominica in 1813-1814 as the British governor waged war against the men and women who resisted slavery.

In Look Back!, an award-winning writer and illustrator celebrate the relationship between a grandmother and her grandson as she tells him about her Caribbean childhood adventures in the rainforest in search of a mysterious creature called Ti Bolom. Is Grannie's Ti Bolom real or just one of her stories?