Mauritius sketchbook (2004) was beautifully painted by Sophie Ladame and written by Yvan Martial. This is the first non-fiction book to make it to my online collection. Mauritius sketchbook sits proudly on my coffee table and moves around my house as needed. The watercolour pages that the illustrations and the texts are printed on, adds another texture and depth to Mauritius sketchbook.
My dearest friend Medgée gifted us a copy of this book during our family's first trip to Mauritius. I had left Mauritius in 2000 to study in Australia. Six years later, I returned home with my 3 months old daughter Anna and my husband Tony. 20 years after the publication of Mauritius sketchbook, the landmarks painted by Ladame is still here. In 2024, my son and I travelled to Mauritius together and walked through Ladame's paintings in real time.
On the cover of the book is the Curepipe Town Hall. This is the town I am from and know well. This is where my parents got married and this place has always been part of my landscape as a teenager and young adult. In front of the town hall is the garden with the statue of Paul and Virginie. Ladame captures this scene in the book with the town hall in the background. Every visit home to Mauritius requires a walk to the garden, pass the town hall.
Painting of Paul and Virginie's sculpture in from of the town hall (Ladame, 2004) and in real life (Whiting, 2024).
Ladame and Martial collaborated to create words and landscapes full of colours and hidden treasures. In his introduction, Martial described Mauritian's love and pride for their country, ‘their ‘pearl’. Even when Mauritians leave their country to travel and live abroad, upon their return:
They gaze again on turquoise lagoons, a sapphire sea, the glistening white reefs and fine sandy beaches, the aquamarine and amethyst-colooured mountains and jade-hued sugar-cane fields.
Everyone who knows Mauritius will recognise the various landmarks and architectures spread across Mauritius sketchbook. From the red roofed chapel of Cap-Malheureux in the north, the Jummah Mosque overlooking China Town in Port-Louis, Le Morne mountain in the west or the fishing villages in the east.
Jummah mosque and Chine Town in paintings (Ladame, 2004) and in real life (2024).
Carefully crafted ships with multicoloured sails (Ladame, 2004) and in real life (2024).
Le Morne Mountain in painting (Ladame 2004) and in real life (2024).
Mauritians often refer to a place or location in its compass point first. For example: "I like to go to the north, they have the best parties in Grand-Bay" or "I drove from the east today and the traffic was so bad". I found this quite fascinating. I hadn't notice this before. Each time someone mentioned a compass point, I found myself thinking of a compass and then tried to remember what towns and villages are at each point of the compass. The contents page of Mauritius sketchbook also reflect this.
Compass on the map and table of contents by Ladame and Martial (2004).
Mauritius sketchbook is a beautiful book, full of colours and that will brought me on a journey home, to Mauritius. In the photo below, my dearest friend Medgée and I are travelling from Le Morne to Cascavelle. So many stories to tell and never enough time.
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