The novel by Gisèle Pineau Exile According to Julia speaks of a feeling of belonging, of a home. As this novel demonstrates, home is not always a place: sometimes it is a person. For the young narrator of this story, home is embodied in her grandmother Julia (affectionately called Man Ya). It is a story of immigration, exile, alienation and the discovery of home and self. The novel details Man Ya's "exile" from her home in Guadalupe to Paris to live with the narrator and her family. Depressed and constantly longing to return home, Man Ya eventually returns to Guadalupe, leaving the narrator and his family bereft. After her departure, the narrator continually writes to Man Ya over the years. She never answers. Eventually, the family returns to Guadalupe to be with Man Ya. The novel ends with Julia sharing her Guadalupe with her grandchildren, climbing trees, gardening, and laughing. The time the narrator spent with her grandmother had a profound impact on her life. Julia was his teacher, his connection to his Caribbean ancestors and his home. Man Ya strives to set an example for his grandchildren when he is in Paris. She felt that her grandchildren "who are growing up there, in the prison of these concrete houses, [were] surely losing their way to common sense, wandering so far from the essence of life", and she would thus help them find their way (94). In the “Training” section, the narrator lists the qualities that Man Ya taught her: obedience, politeness, truth, work, fun (79-80). Man Ya teaches children things that fall outside their Parisian paradigm, in which “[r]eading, writing, arithmetic, represent the holy trinity in the pantheon of knowledge” (80). Although the narrator felt that she needed many things... middle of paper ...... mesick Man Ya "possesses this power too" and will disappear one night (52). While there is much more to extrapolate from this passage, one thing it certainly does is portray Julia as this kind of powerful, mystical figure. Here again, in the “Deliverance” section, after Julia leaves and the narrator writes his letters, this representation reappears. The narrator says that she “writes Julia’s tales and legends” (106). She writes how Julia “delivers the lost souls promised to the devil, undoes the tricks of Br'er Rabbit, restores wealth and confidence to the black man, the power of speech to the dogs…”. . .” (106). Such a depiction of his grandmother shows that the narrator truly admired his grandmother, that she was a powerful figure in his life. Man Ya taught the narrator to be strong and courageous in the face of life's challenges, including racism..