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Overview
Rarely does a novel come along that combines lyrical writing, provocative ideas, and breathtaking adventure as deftly as William Boyd's "Brazzaville Beach"; and few books in the past decade have received such overwhelming critical praise. It is the story of primate researcher Hope Clearwater, who contemplates the extraordinary events of a life that has left her washed up on a distant, lonely beach. For, in the heart of a dangerous, civil war-torn African nation, Hope made a shocking discovery about apes and man. And now she must come to terms with some hard truths about marriage and madness, the greed and savagery of charlatan science, and about what compels seemingly benign creatures to kill for pleasure alone.Praised as "brilliant" and "stunningly magical" by the Washington Post Book World, Boyd's award-winning novel is a brutal exploration of the sexual politics of humans and chimpanzees, set in present-day Africa. A survivor of the wars between apes and men, primate researcher Hope Clearwater contemplates the events that led to the discovery that even seemingly benign creatures can kill for the sheer pleasure of it.
Synopsis
In the heart of a civil war–torn African nation, primate researcher Hope Clearwater made a shocking discovery about apes and man. . . .
Young, alone, and far from her family in Britain, Hope Clearwater contemplates the extraordinary events that left her washed up like driftwood on Brazzaville Beach. It is here, on the distant, lonely outskirts of Africa, where she must come to terms with the perplexing and troubling circumstances of her recent past. For Hope is a survivor of the devastating cruelties of apes and humans alike. And to move forward, she must first grasp some hard and elusive truths: about marriage and madness, about the greed and savagery of charlatan science, and about what compels seemingly benign creatures to kill for pleasure alone.
Baltimore Sun
A remarkable book that deserves to be read by a large audience...The themes in Mr. Boyd's novel are universal. The story is compelling. The setting is exotic. In virtually every respect I am enthusiastic about Brazzabille Beach.