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.