Congo Free State, 1888 On a mission deep in the jungle, Oxford anthropologist James Litchfield comes face-to-face with a local legend: a wild man who wanders with mountain gorillas and lives as one of their own. The chance encounter with the savage, whom James calls Michael, leads to a game of observation and exploration. Their mutual curiosity turns to an attraction--one that Michael has never experienced and James is desperate to deny. When members of the expedition unearth James's secret discovery--a living specimen of man at his most primitive--Michael becomes a pawn in their quest for fame. As their relationship deepens, James is compelled to protect Michael from the academics who would treat him as nothing more than a scientific acquisition and London society, which threatens to destroy their passionate bond... 85,000 words