What happens when self-love coexists with pain and vanity? How can you live in the mystery and restlessness of not having a story to tell? Maryse Condé answers these questions from the story of three generations of island women united by the force of blood, abuse and violence. This novel is also Marie-Noëlle's journey to piece together the puzzle of her identity from the island of Guadeloupe to France and the United States. Unwanted motherhood and men of dubious morals, Desirada is a novel that responds to a particular cry: only since the invention of one's own language does one begin to live.