We Were Not Kings

From island life in the Caribbean to a new beginning in France, a young man comes of age in a sweeping and lyrical novel about family, loss, secrets, and finding freedom from the past.

Eighteen-year-old Salomon Destin graduates high school and anxiously trades life on Guadeloupe in the Caribbean for France to continue his studies.

Strasbourg is his new home. He's carving out a promising new path for himself. And most of all, he's left behind the disorder of so much family drama, including that of a dissolute father, a mother who turns a blind eye to the chaos, his troubled and aimless brother Junior, and Salomon's inherited obligations as peacekeeper. Although one year away, in love for the first time, and an ocean safely separating his old life and new, Salomon is pulled back to the island by the news of a tragedy. As unexpectedly comforting as Guadeloupe is--the food, music, ocean, and sun stirring up beautiful island memories--the traumas of the past remain.

Years later, while facing the echoes of family demons in his own marriage and confronting the stunning secrets and revelations to come, Salomon, and everyone he loves, must find the strength to move forward once and for all. But will freedom come with a price?

Robert de la Chevotière always felt that he had a story to tell, be it through poetry, short stories, song, or fiction. His own story is one of migration. Born in Dominica, he and his mother moved to Guadeloupe shortly after Hurricane David crippled the island. Several years later, they moved to Bermuda. In terms of language, customs, music, food, and socioeconomics, the cultural variation gifted Robert with a cross-cultural understanding of places and people. He now calls Halifax, Nova Scotia, home, where he has been an educator in the public school system for nearly twenty years. To Robert, writing is political, the same way it has been transportive and influential in his own awakening. When not writing, reading, or being a hands-on dad, Robert enjoys video calls with his family scattered around the globe, playing soccer, and enjoying all things of his beloved Arsenal FC. For more information, visit www.robdelabooks.com.