The story of the Jewish refugees who settled in Sosúa fleeing Nazism. The destiny of Golden Flower Trujillothe dictator’s daughter. The life of Sonia Pierre.
Three Dominican themes for three novels by the French writer Catherine Bardon. Two million readers for Les Déracinés, (The Uprooted) placed the author in a privileged place in the French literary world.
The Bardon journalist, author of travel guides and contributor to some of the main French magazines, was now able to dedicate herself exclusively to literature.
The books have been translated into several languages… but not into Spanish. Someone should edit them.
—Three books about history and protagonists of the Dominican Republic. Where does your interest in the country come from?
There are love stories of all kinds. Between the Dominican Republic and me it is a love story that began 35 years ago when I visited the country for the first time. I fell in love with the landscapes, the people, the history of the country and it still continues. That’s why I wrote tourist guides to the country, which allowed me to travel around it and discover its many facets. And then I moved part-time to Las Terrenas, which is still my winter retreat.
—What did you find “notable” in Flor de Oro Trujillo?
The dictator’s eldest daughter, Rubirosa’s first wife, that piqued my curiosity. I did a little research on Flor and discovered an absolutely romantic destiny, if only because of her nine marriages… I decided to write her life as a testimony of what dysfunctional parenthood does to the life of a child and then of a woman.
—Do you identify embers of the dictatorship in the Dominican Republic today?
When I am in the Dominican Republic, I live in Las Terrenas. There, of course, there is no trace, no memory of the dictatorship. I don’t have enough interactions or connections with the capital to judge that.
—Is there anything left of the Paris that Flor de Oro knew and that is reflected in the novel?
Nothing remains of Flor de Oro in France, not even the memory. He was a very discreet person. On the other hand, they invited me to a literary meeting in the town of Bouffémont where she studied French. The girls’ school was transformed into a medical center.
“What interested me about Flor de Oro was understanding his double dependence on his father and the leader of the country.”
—What was the motivation for writing about Sonia Pierre?
Immigration problems will be a universal problem in the coming decades. The Dominican situation is particularly complex, since two countries share an island. We are experiencing very explosive situations in France and more broadly in Europe with contrasting and inflammatory political positions. This is also one of the main challenges of the new government in France. Sonia embodies a position in the face of these struggles but above all she is a strong, inspiring woman who sacrificed her life for her ideas, like some great activists around the world. She is completely unknown in France and I thought it was fair to shed light on her life and her struggle.
—Two very different women, Flor de Oro Trujillo and Sonia Pierre. Would you say that they reflect the complexity of Dominican society?
In fact, they are two faces of Dominican society. A woman who is a victim of a patriarchal society who seeks to emancipate herself and partially achieves it. And a woman who embodies female emancipation through her positions, her autonomy and her activist involvement.
—Is Flor de Oro another victim of the dictatorship? At some point in the novel a certain compassion for her emerges…
What interested me in the case of Flor de Oro was understanding his double dependence on his father and the leader of the country. See how the daughter of a dictator knew how to build her life in such a situation of emotional and material dependence. I believe that his life, deprived of love and freedom, is an allegory of the life of the Dominican people under the dictatorship. Of course we can have compassion for her, as for an entire people deprived of freedom, gagged and under constant surveillance. Since she was little, Flor lacked the love of a father, a love that she would look for all her life, probably hence her nine marriages…
“Rubirosa was simply an unpleasant, problematic and misogynistic individual.”
—Despite the myth, Porfirio Rubirosa seems like a weak man in his novel…
No, he is not a weak man, simply an unpleasant, problematic and misogynistic individual. His marital or other exploits interest me no more than his relationship with women. It’s true that the character may seem fascinating, but I don’t find him likeable. Furthermore, many books have been written about him and by him; no need to add more.
—What did it mean for Les Déracinés in your professional career? How much of a journalist and how much of a writer is necessary to undertake this saga?
The publication of “Les Déracinés” changed my life because this first novel introduced me to the world of literature with great success. It made me a recognized novelist and allowed me to continue publishing, not only the continuation of the life of this emigrant family in Sosúa, covering the contemporary history of the country, but also the fictional biographies of Flor de Oro and Sonia Pierre. The saga of “The Uprooted” ended with the publication of a fifth volume, a prequel published in October 2024: “Almah, a Viennese Youth.” Now with a century of history the saga is over!
—Do you intend to write about other Dominican topics?
I would have liked to write about the Mirabal sisters, but that was already done by a French novelist who wrote a novel for young people, “The 3 Sisters and the Dictator.” For now I think I take my readers to other latitudes, on adventures inspired by my travels.
“Immigration problems will be a universal problem in the coming decades.”
(Catherine Bardon’s works are available in French, from the Alliance Française)
