Return to Napoleon House

Shannon recently had the privilege of attending the inaugural Walker Percy Literary Festival in beautiful St. Francisville, Louisiana, and took advantage of the opportunity to return to where Napoleon in America began – the Napoleon House Bar & Café in New Orleans.

Shannon got the idea for the novel when dining at Napoleon House in 2010. As detailed in Shannon’s post about the history of Napoleon House, the building is associated with a plot involving former New Orleans mayor Nicolas Girod and pirate Jean Laffite to rescue Napoleon from St. Helena in 1821. As legend has it, shortly before the rescuers were about to sail, they learned that Napoleon had died.

Reading this on the menu, Shannon said to her husband, “That would make a great book, if Napoleon had come to America.”

He said, “Why don’t you write it?”

She thought, why not?

The highlight of the trip was meeting Sal Impastato, the owner of Napoleon House, and learning more about the building’s history. Napoleon House has been in his family for 100 years.

If you enjoy Napoleonic history and you’re visiting New Orleans, Napoleon House is definitely worth the stop. Consider coming to the city for the Napoleonic Historical Society’s annual conference, November 14-16, 2014. Shannon will be speaking there.

For more photos, visit Shannon’s Facebook page.