I didn't know he had written novels (two) and was spellbound by this story of life in the jungle of Ceylon, inspired by his experience as colonial administrator. Woolf has an extraordinary feel for, and sympathy with, his doomed villagers, cut off from the outside world and struggling against poverty, disease, superstition, injustice and above all the pitiless encroachment of the jungle itself. This is an extraordinary, hypnotic book, beautifully written and deeply felt.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 36 September 2006 ) |