In an African city, an elderly and unwell man, Elias Cole, a former lecturer now living alone with his manservant, Babagaleh, reflects on his past. Carefully recorded in a series of now-frayed notebooks are memories of youth in England, the details of an obsession: Saffia, a woman he loved, and Julius, her charismatic, unpredictable husband, a colleague of Elias's at the university.
Adrian Lockheart is a psychologist new to this foreign land, struggling with the intensity of the heat, dirt and dust of a country with which he has only tenuous connection. He is here to help, but frustrated by his inability to do so - until an encounter with a local woman suffering some unidentifiable form of madness gives him purpose.
These two men are brought together by a letter from Elias to Adrian requesting his professional services. The relationship which develops between them explores the full extent of Elias's involvement with Saffia and Julius, and some unsettling truths which Adrian himself must address.
The latest novel from the author of Ancestor Stones and runner up for the 2003 Samuel Johnson Prize, The Devil That Dances on the Water, is a stunning novel about understanding our pasts and an examination of the very nature of obsessive love.
