The Rarest Fruit follows the life of Edmond Albius, a twelve-year-old born into slavery in La Réunion, who discovered the secret of vanilla pollination. Until Edmond, no one had been able to grow vanilla beans in the two centuries since the plant had been brought over to Europe by the Conquistadors.

At times the writing was more stylized and at others it was a much more pared back reconstruction of historical documents. The blend between the two really worked for me. This is my favorite book I've read so far this year.

Told in a highly florid, baroque style, The Rarest Fruit is a creative non-fiction/fantasy based on the life of Edmond Albius, a Creold man who figured out how to pollinate vanilla, setting off a craze for the spice around the world. I read this in English, and there are times when the translation feels awkward and not-quite-right, but I haven't gotten a French copy to compare. At the beginning of the book through about the middle, it's odd enough to distract from the overall experience, but then it smooths out in the second half. Apart from that, it's a feast for readers who like lots of description and historical novels/fanfic.