Her writing and painting depicted the life and culture of Martinique, evaluating class, gender, and race and the multi-layered society which existed in her Caribbean homeland.

De Montaigne and her nine siblings enjoyed their childhood, but were aware of the poverty of the black workers on the island, which would later feature in her paintings.

[2] De Montaigne contracted a severe case of malaria and parasitic disease shortly after graduating from elementary school.

[2] She was among the earliest group of black Antillean writers in Paris, producing poetic works before the authors of the Négritude movement.

[2] Near the end of the war, de Montaigne met and married Thélus Léro, a mathematician working in Paris who was also from Martinique,[2] and the couple subsequently had three children.

Her stories reflected the multi-cultural layers of society in the Antilles and focused on class, gender and race and the interweaving of prejudices.