Synopses & Reviews
In 1899 Jeremy, a young engineer, leaves a small town in Maine to oversee the construction of a railroad across East Africa. In charge of hundreds of Indian laborers, he soon finds himself the reluctant hunter of two lions that are killing his men in almost nightly attacks on their camp. Plagued by fear, wracked with malaria and alienated by a secret he can tell no one, he takes increasing solace in the company of the African who helps him hunt. In 2000 Max, an American ethnobotonist, travels to Rwanda in search of an obscure vine that could become a lifesaving pharmaceutical. Stationed in the mountains, she closely shadows a family of gorillas, the last of their group to survive the encroachment of local poachers. Max bears a striking gift for understanding the ape's non-verbal communication, but their precarious solidarity is threatened as a violent rebel group from the nearby Congo draws close.
Review
"Audrey Schulman does a beautiful job of balancing adventure, suspense and self-discovery." -Michele Ross, CNN
Review
"[A House Named Brazil is] Quirky and thoughtful... Schulman renders the strange beauties of a world that draws on resources scarcely known to us." -The New York Times
Review
"A genuine page-turner with literary content." -Boston Globe
Review
"Lyrical . . . Suspenseful . . . Schulmans heroine [in The Cage] is a true original transformed emotionally and physically by experiences marvelously imagined and compellingly described." -The Los Angeles Times
Review
"Bizarre yet intriguing . . . More than enough to keep readers turning pages. . . Schulmans language is lovely." -USA Today
Synopsis
1899: Jeremy, a young engineer overseeing the construction of a railroad across British East Africa, becomes the reluctant hunter of two lions that make nightly attacks on the camp. Plagued by fear, wracked with malaria, and alienated by a secret, he takes increasing solace in the company of the African man who scouts for him.
2000: Max, an American ethnobotanist, travels to Rwanda in search of an obscure vine that could become a lifesaving pharmaceutical.
She grows close to a family of gorillas, but their freedom, and Max's, is threatened when a Congolese rebel group draws close.
As these stories intertwine, Philip K. Dick Award-winning author Audrey Schulman deftly confronts the struggle between progress
and preservation, idiosyncrasy and acceptance.
Synopsis
"Two Americans have life-altering experiences in Africa a century apart in this environmentalist adventure novel" by the author of Theory of Bastards (Kirkus Reviews).
In 1899, Jeremy, a young engineer, leaves a small town in Maine to oversee the construction of a railroad across British East Africa. In charge of hundreds of Indian laborers, he becomes the reluctant hunter of two lions that are killing his men in nightly attacks. Plagued by fear and alienated by a secret he can tell no one, Jeremy takes increasing solace in the company of his African scout.
In 2000, Max, an American ethnobotanist, travels to Rwanda where she searches for an obscure vine that could become a lifesaving pharmaceutical. Stationed in the mountains, she shadows a family of gorillas--the last of their group to survive the local poachers. But their precarious freedom is threatened as a violent rebel group from the nearby Congo draws close.
Told in alternating perspectives that interweave the two characters and their fates, Audrey Schulman's novel deftly confronts the struggle between progress and preservation, idiosyncrasy and acceptance.
About the Author
Audrey Schulman is the author of three previous novels: Swimming With Jonah, The Cage and A House Named Brazil. Her work has been translated into eleven languages. Born in Montreal, Schulman now lives in Massachusetts.