Publisher's Synopsis
In 1749, the French botanist Michel Adanson landed in Senegal to study the flora as part of his research to create a great encyclopedia. He will remain there until 1753, the year in which he returns to Europe. So far the strictly historical facts. From there, the novelist David Diop imagines the existence of secret diaries written by the naturalist during his transformative stay in Africa; a diary that, after his death, will end up in the hands of his daughter Aglaé. What do those pages contain that remained hidden for so many years? The life experiences of a scientist who traveled to Africa in search of exotic plants and met people; the testimony of someone who moved to another country to study nature and came across the pain of human beings. In Senegal, Adanson will meet Maram Seck, a young woman from the Wolof ethnic group who rebels against her destiny as a slave after her uncle has sold her in exchange for a gun. The botanist will discover a worldview very different from his own, which will transform him forever, and he will learn of the existence of the island of Gorea, where traffickers loaded ships bound for America with slaves. It was the door of the trip without return.
