In 1929, at the age of seven, Hugh has lived only at his parents' administrative outpost in Cameroon; comfortable in the mangrove's tangled foliage, he is reluctantly moved to England . . . His uncle's estate in Ulverton is as alien to Hugh as Africa was to his parents, with comparable dangers. When he returns there as an old man, Hugh finds the place still has its mysteries, with which is own reminiscences gradually become entangled as shocking events build to murder and a devastating revelation.
'Pieces Of Light' is a ghost story, thriller, and travelogue. Thorpe subtly takes on the two huge public and historical themes of colonialism and war alongside his affecting and sometimes unbearably poignant human story.
