Chita: A Memory of Last Island, Classics To Go
Lafcadio Hearn was an English writer who was born in Greece, lived in Ireland, and then moved to the United States. He later moved to Japan, which had a great influence on his writing. Hearn is best known for his stories about Japan, especially his ghost stories and legends. Chita a Memory of Last Island was written while Hearn was living in New Orleans. Chita was a young white girl adopted by Spanish parents. The novella was based on the hurricane of 1856. The barrier island of L'Ile Dernicre was totally destroyed and swept into the sea. The story tells of good people living on the edge of an abyss and the brutality of nature. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed portions of New Orleans this story by Hearn has even more significance. (Goodreads)
Lafcadio Hearn
Koizumi Yakumo (27 June 1850 – 26 September 1904), born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn was a writer. He worked in the United States before moving to Japan and becoming Japanese. He was of Greek-Irish descent. He wrote about Japanese culture, especially his collections of legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. In the United States, he is also known for his writings about New Orleans, based on his decade-long stay there. Hearn was born on the Greek island of Lefkada to a Greek mother and an Irish father, after which a complex series of conflicts and events led to him being moved to Dublin, where he was abandoned first by his mother, then his father, and finally by his father's aunt (who had been appointed his official guardian). At the age of 19, he emigrated to the United States, where he found work as a newspaper reporter, first in Cincinnati and later in New Orleans. From there, he was sent as a as a correspondent to the French West Indies, where he stayed for two years, and then to Japan, where he would remain for the rest of his life. In Japan, Hearn married a Japanese woman with whom he had four children. His writings about Japan offered the Western world a glimpse into a largely unknown but fascinating culture at the time. correspondent to the French West Indies, where he stayed for two years, and then to Japan, where he would remain for the rest of his life.
