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The Communist Question
Jeanne The Woman in Red is a work of biographical fiction based on the life of Jeanne Tunica Y Casas, a fiery, uncompromising political activist, feminist, communist, and a woman of courage. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
If I had written a non-fiction account of Jeanne’s life and work, it would have sounded robotic and lacking in truth. Fiction was the only way to delve deep into her life and times. Many people she knew and worked with had passed away or were reluctant to speak or give any information. I understand and respect that, but facts, figures, and exact dates would have been missing. There is not much out there in English, and the work done, predominantly by a New Caledonian historian, provided a solid foundation from which to write. I had access to her articles, tracts, and speeches, and I was able to integrate this into the story as they had been written—typos and all.
I have always been inspired by strong characters in fiction and non-fiction. I was drawn to Jeanne straightaway. I had just arrived in New Caledonia for three years, and I was browsing its history, and I came across Jeanne. I wanted to visit her at the cemetery, pay my respects, but I discovered she had been buried in a common grave. I could not believe it. Disheartened but determined, I contacted the administration and decided that writing the book is only half of it. I wanted her recognised with a plaque. She fought for the rights of exploited peoples, and I wanted to fight for her legacy. Her remains were located, and a plaque now recognises her at a local cemetery. It has been a hard but satisfying journey.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
Her relationship with her lover turned husband, Paco. The communist question. How much or how little did she know about Stalin’s atrocities? The right of women to vote. I wanted back-and-forth chapters where her life in the nursing home meets the past.
Did you find anything in your research of this story that surprised you?
I was surprised that she had lived in Australia for a while and opened up a restaurant in Sydney. Her continual battle with the authorities. She never gave up. I was also disappointed with a few reactions as if writing about a communist makes the writer a communist. This is not the case, and I could never have placed 2020 eyes on Jeanne’s life and get away with writing her story.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Jeanne The Woman in Red?
That she, like many others, must be remembered for inspiring and encouraging change without violence, and that history, far from being cancelled, should be remembered and studied – the good and the bad and learn the lessons on how to move forward. I am not just talking about feminists and politicians, but people who did not have a public role but were instrumental in shaping future generations.
The book has been translated into French and will soon be released.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Jeanne The Woman In Red
Jeanne The Woman in Red is a literary historical novel that follows the life of Jeanne Tunica Y Casas, a fiery, uncompromising political activist whose story unfolds across New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, France, and beyond. The book moves between her final years in a nursing home in the late 1960s and vivid recollections of her political battles, her marriage to Paco, and the people and places she loved. It’s a portrait of a woman who refuses to soften or apologize, even as age and loss begin to close in around her.
This book feels intimate. As if Jeanne were sitting across from me, telling stories that run on nerves and conviction rather than nostalgia. The writing has a rawness I didn’t expect. Scenes of the nursing home feel almost claustrophobic with their vinyl chairs, faint smells, and the slow drip of Jeanne’s frustration. Then the narrative swings wide open into her past, where she teaches children under mango trees, writes furious letters, argues politics with anyone brave enough, and paints scenes that reveal more about her spirit than any speech could. The author’s choice to weave Jeanne’s inner voice with historical detail gives the story both grit and tenderness. It is a quiet kind of political novel, but political all the same, carried by the force of one woman who refuses to be small.
What struck me most was how unapologetically the book stays with Jeanne’s contradictions. She is compassionate one moment and sharp enough to cut the next. She is grieving but stubborn. She is certain of her beliefs, sometimes to the point of alienating those who might have helped her. And yet the book never asks me to judge her. It just lets her be. Some passages read like memories folded in warm light, while others hit like sudden blows. The sensory details work best when they’re simple: a wooden floorboard Paco never fixed, a pot of chrysanthemums at a grave, the sound of children giggling through a vocabulary lesson. The author trusts these small images to carry weight, and they do.
This isn’t a sweeping epic or a fast-moving plot. It’s more like sitting with someone who has lived too intensely to fade gently. The genre sits somewhere between literary fiction and biographical historical fiction, and it will appeal most to readers who like character-driven stories, real history woven with imagination, and portraits of complicated women who challenge the world rather than charm it.
Pages: 213 | ASIN : B08CPNPNDV
LITERARY TITAN 