The Rarest Fruit

€14.95

Author: Gaëlle Bélem
Translators: Karen Fleetwood, Laëtitia Saint-Loubert

1829. Sainte-Suzanne, Bourbon Island. A Black orphan, a slave of only 7 weeks, is placed – as if by fate – into the arms of Ferréol Beaumont, a botanist with a passion for orchids. He raises this child, Edmond, teaching him all he knows of the lush plants that populate his tropical garden.

At 12 years old, the illiterate young prodigy unlocks the secret to hand-pollinating the vanilla orchid, revolutionizing not only the island’s economy but French patisserie, perfumes & more. While his discovery brings prosperity to others, the exhilarating aroma of the vanilla flower soon dissipates for Edmond as a bitter reality stretches out before him – his brilliance unrecognized, his name forgotten.

“Thousands of delicate, early flowers have just bloomed on Edmond’s vanilla plants. They look like garlands of light, decorations for a wake on stakes that reach up to the sky. But their fragile radiance, the rarity of their brilliant fruit, the taste of vanilla they leave on the tongue – none of it matters anymore.”

Winner of Prix du Roman Métis Etudiants (2024)
Winner of Prix André Dubreuil du Premier Roman (2020)

Publication date: 1 May, 2025.

Cover design by Niall McCormack.

‘This novel is a rare achievement – a perfect blend of ideas and feeling that will touch hearts and change minds. Gaëlle Bélem reframes slavery through the prism of invention and discovery, revealing how one of the world’s favourite flavours carries colonialism’s taint. Urgent, memorable and deeply human, this is a story that continues to resonate far beyond its final page.’ Ann Morgan

‘A dark historical tale, an exotic island in itself, full of colour and scent and lit by flashes of irony and wit. This is the fascinating true story of the orphan born into slavery who made possible the vanilla in your ice-cream.’ William Wall

‘She has the ability to sketch a whole life of hopes & defeats in a single paragraph’ Le Monde

‘A two-century-old story brought back to life by [Bélem]’s sharp, voluptuous, no-nonsense pen … in this fictionalized biography blending fantasy, Creole mythology & Réunionese folklore’ Le Point

Edmond gets out of bed without knowing that – for centuries – canelés from Bordeaux will owe everything to his vanilla and to sugar from Sainte-Suzanne. Edmond has lunch in ignorance of the fact that everywhere – from the banks of the Erdre to those of the Garonne – a procession of merchants, pastrycooks, growers and perfumers are getting rich. Edmond has his supper without knowing that, in the Parisian district of Le Marais, a grocer’s shop named ‘Chez Edmond’ is selling products based on vanilla for the price of a kidney. Edmond goes to sleep without suspecting that the prominent politician Gambetta is mad about vanilla-flavoured French toast and repeats tirelessly, at every small gathering: ‘Vanilla: to be eaten at all times, never to be refrained from.’
After triumphing in France, the vanilla scent sets out to conquer the entire planet. Throughout the world, a vanilla breeze blows: pods circulate, sell, are bought and consumed without anyone knowing that it is a twelve-year-old slave who has never seen a map of the world who uncovered the secret of vanilla for the centuries to come – and all with a simple movement of his hand. Edmond still doesn’t know that – for a full thirty-nine years on both sides of the equator – people will get rich thanks to his fingers, on the back of his effort.
All he does know is that in Bourbon – where people prefer stews to desserts – a chef from Bordeaux has arrived with four ducks. Desperate to adapt to the new culture immediately, he mixes poultry with vanilla, creating the very first vanilla duck in history. A dish that remains one of the island’s great specialities to this day. Edmond has heard people talking about it, but he’s never tasted it.

Original language: FrenchISBN: 9781739842383Format: PaperbackPages: 224Weight: g

Available to pre-order