The Newcomers: The Chronicles of Touperdu with author Pam Troy

It is 1880, and immigrants are flocking to a new refuge from the economic and racial turmoil of the late nineteenth century. 

For New Orleans chef Amadeo Roselyn, the Isle of Touperdu is where he can open his own restaurant and raise his daughters as educated, marriageable ladies in a place free of the violence roiling the post-Reconstruction era south. For Gwennoelle Duday, the matriarch of a rackety family of witches from the French village of Fourche, it is where the Dudays can act freely, unfettered by other people of “talent” and any foolish talk of rules and higher law.

But the night before they disembark, a question troubles both Amadeo in first class, and Madame Duday in steerage. It is one that will haunt them for years after they step onto the island — is the promise of Touperdu a lie? 

The Newcomers is the first novel in a series set on the fictional island of Touperdu, where the lines blur between superstition and magic, legend and history, promises and betrayal. Two immigrant families confront the question all outsiders face when they enter a new world. What can you do — and what will you give up — to truly belong?

About the Speaker

Pam Troy is a retiree who spent two decades working in the Events Department at San Francisco’s Mechanics' Institute, one of the oldest libraries on the West Coast. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies including Space and Time, Crimson Fog, State of Horror: Louisiana, and Another Dimension. Her nonfiction includes feature articles for the Nob Hill Gazette, film reviews for Culture Vulture, and occasional program notes for the San Francisco International Film Festival.

She lives in San Francisco with her husband, their cat, and far too many books.

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Host or Publisher Mechanics' Institute