On a Spanish-scented island, a languorous tango unfolds. People come and go, fortunes rise and fall like waves of the sea, men and women change partners but the dance goes on. Although peopled with a colourful cast of characters, to one solitary observer this island paradise is a place where old elephants come to die. Hélène Rioux tells the exuberant tales of an ex-pat community. The elephant, used as a metaphor, becomes a portal to better understand human nature as the desires, degeneration and despair of the islandœs residents are revealed in sometimes disturbing stories of irony and pathos. With an eye for detail and emotional nuance, Hélène Rioux brings a compassionate detachment to these tales of love, loss, cruelty and art as she writes of the memorable characters encountered in the Elephantsœ Graveyard.