This compulsive book has two main characters - an embittered Napoleon on the island of St Helena, where he was exiled and died, and the author who followed him there. Combining autobiography, history, travel and the style of a novel, it dares to confound all the borders put on travel writing. In capturing the claustrophobia of St Helena with disturbing honesty, it reveals how islands - often portrayed as paradises - can also be prisons. (Kirkus UK)