I Am Not Your Eve

by Devika Ponnambalam

Devika Ponnambalam’s historical novel presents the story of Teha’amana, the child-bride and muse of the French artist Paul Gauguin, and the girl who features in his most famous work, ‘Manaò tupapaú‘ (‘Spirit of the Dead Watching’). I Am Not Your Eve is written primarily from Teha’amana’s perspective, but includes several other voices, creating the clash of cultures between the French colonists, Christian missionaries and the indigenous peoples of Polynesia. While presenting their 2023 historical fiction shortlist, the Walter Scott Prize judges said it was “a complex novel”  that raised “uncomfortable issues of morality.” It demands a lot of the reader, they added, but is “deeply rewarding.”