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A Cruel Madness, one of Colin Thubron's previously published novels, won the Silver Pen Award. Colin Thubron, well-known as a travel writer, has also been numbered among 'the current masters of the short novel' (TLS), and called 'one of our most compelling contemporary novelists' (Independent). His fiction includes Falling, Emperor, A Cruel Madness, Turning Back the Sun and Distance.
High in the Peruvian Andes, five travellers are making their way along perilous mountain paths, past thundering waterfalls and through dense jungle, in search of the famous Inca city Vilcabamba. This is the story of their journey, not only to Vilcabamba but also to the depths of their own inner beings. Apart from their destination, the explorers appear to have little in common. Louis is a redundant Belgian architect, pampered, unfit and besotted with his glamorous young French wife, Josiane. Robert, a journalist, is passionate about Inca history, obsessively writing notes for a book which we fear will never be written. He prides himself on his self-control, and is appalled when he finds himself attracted to Josiane. His wife, Camilla, has her own unwelcome yearnings to contend with; she is drawn to Francisco, a trainee priest who is weighed down by the inherited guilt of his Spanish ancestors, conquistadors who massacred the Inca people, ravaging their fertile lands in search of gold. As these ill-assorted travellers draw nearer their goal, they experience ever-increasing physical distress. The glorious beauty of their surroundings becomes irrelevant, as they struggle to drag themselves along the mountain trails, where one slip can mean death over the plunging edge of a precipice. When one of the party is struck down by a fever, the unexpected respite forces them all to take stock and re-examine their lives. Colin Thubron is highly regarded both as a travel writer and a gifted novelist. In this powerful novel he demonstrates the magnificence of his writing to its fullest extent, conjuring up vibrant images of the jungle's ripe lushness skilfully juxtaposed with snapshot scenes of ruined Inca temples. This beautifully constructed novel shows that the power of the nature will always be mightier than the arrogance of men. The relentless, fecund vegetation thrusts its way defiantly through the buildings of the Vilcabamba ruins; this same merciless energy will, in the end, defeat the weary travellers. (Kirkus UK)
