The Lower River

'The Lower River remained in his mind in the way that the notion of home might persist in someone else's' Decades ago Massachusetts salesman Ellis Hock spent four years in Africa - and the continent has never left him. So when his wife walks out and his business goes belly up, Ellis turns back to the one place in which he briefly found happiness. Yet returning to the village of Malabo shocks him. The school he built is a ruin. The people he remembers are poor, apathetic, hostile. The country labours as if under a great, invisible burden. However, Ellis is determined. This is his escape, a paradise regained. But escape can be a snare, a trap for the unwary . . . 'Remarkable, admirable, riveting, heartbreaking. A masterly, moving portrait of how Africa ensnares and enchants.' Guardian 'Excellent. A darkly chilling account of a world gone out of joint.' Daily Telegraph' 'Terrific writing. Theroux's senses are always on full alert.' Evening Standard 'Theroux invests this very twenty-first-century journey into the heart of ennui with a caustic bite, like the snakes that pop up throughout.' Metro 'The sense of menace is masterful. Theroux has never written a better novel.' Sunday Telegraph