Blackburn richly evokes the 19th-century colonial Indian Ocean in this haunting novel of madness, slavery and racism, which memorably opens on the island of La Digue in the Seychelles. The plot (which isn't nearly as interesting as the characters and setting) concerns the obsessions of an English missionary and his attempts to "civilize" the natives on an island much like Mauritius.  (MTS02, $15.00)