A Half Flower

Peril unfolds in the historical fiction and magical realism novel A Half Flower in which Balzac Voclain, an angry, revolutionist doctor with inexplicable visions when someone dies, fights for freedom and justice. In 1816 Lyon, Balzac walks from primary school into an unexpected, gruelling spectacle at the city's main square: the beheading of his uncle in law. His anger draws him into one of the many political activist groups spawned by the French Revolution, and as an adult his own staging at the city square is iminent. He flees France and disembarks in Hawai'i, where he pursues his surgeon career and prepares a place for his friends. The queen being Protestant, Balzac finds all Frenchmen fled, and discovers the old Hawai'ian beliefs, filled with magic and legends, forcefully pressed to remote areas or replaced by Protestantism; it feels like a déjà vu. Now involved with a stunning Hawai'ian woman, he wants to live with her, and they join forces with the Catholic missionaries to acquire permission to stay. Meanwhile, his friends from France decide to fight the injustice against Haitians and turn somewhat pirate; they want to return the French Gold to the Haitians. Two discover there is more between them than a brotherly bond, but the times are not ready for romance between men. The plot thickens as they approach the French military vessel, and a real pirate ship appears on the horizon. Will they voice their love, or will the sea swallow their secret? Back in Hawai'i, Balzac sees the other side of the political agenda; he's taken prisoner by natives of the old culture and enraged by his shackles. Then he understands he's chosen to be sacrificed.