Synopses & Reviews
An exotic setting and a passionate, forbidden affair make The Clouds Beneath the Sun an irresistible page-turner that is sure to satisfy readers looking for an intelligent blend ofhistory, romance, and intrigue.
Mackenzie Ford (a nom de plume) was introduced to readers in 2009 with the publication of Gifts of War, which was praised in USAToday as an absorbing, morally complex read. In a starred review, Library Journal said, Ford keeps the reader on a knife's edge as the lies build andthe truth is only a word or misstep away. Highly recommended.
Now Ford takes us to Kenya in 1961. As a small plane carrying Natalie Nelson lands at a remote airstrip in the Serengeti, Natalieknows she's run just about as far as she can from home. Trained as an archeologist, she accepted an invitation to be included in a famous excavating team, her first opportunity to escape England and the painfulmemories of her past.
But before she can get her bearings, the dig is surrounded by controversy involving the local Masai people--and murder. Compounding the tension, Eleanor Deacon, friend ofthe Masai, who is leading the excavating mission, watches a rift grow between her two handsome sons. Natalie's growing attrac-tion to Jack Deacon soon becomes a passionate affair that turns dangerous whenshe must give evidence in a trial that could spark even more violence and turmoil.
The startling beauty of the Kenyan setting, the tension of loom-ing social upheaval, and the dizzying highs andcrushing lows of a doomed love affair are all captured brilliantly on every page of this extraordinary and utterly unforgettable novel.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
A fascinating, morally ambiguous novel that juxtaposes the ambitions of the scientific community of outsiders against the sensitivities of the native cultures whose riches they unearth. Cinematic descriptions of the land and its people imply an intimate knowledge of the African continent: readers will hear and smell the giraffe, antelope, leopards, and elephants that roam the plain . . . Highly recommended.
--Library Journal, Starred Review
If you like your romance and intrigue with a dash of history and academia, this novel is the book for you
--Booklist
Praise for Gifts of War
An absorbing, morally complex read.
--USA Today
Ford keeps the reader on a knife's edge as the lies build and the truth is only a word or misstep away. Highly recommended.
--Library Journal, starred review
Ford combines the intrigue and tension of military intelligence with an affecting portrayal of a challenging love affair . . . Gifts of War] succeeds on many levels.
--Minneapolis Star Tribune
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
In a novel set in 1961 Kenya, archaelogist Natalie Nelson falls in love with the son of the excavating team's leader, an affair that turns dangerous when she must give evidence in a trial that could spark even more violence and turmoil in the surrounding area. By the author of Gifts of War.
About the Author
MACKENZIE FORD, author of Gifts of War, is the nom de plume of Peter Watson, a well-known and respected historian whose books are published in seventeen languages. He was educated at the Universities of Durham, London, and Rome, and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and numerous publications in the United Kingdom. Since 1998 he has been a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.