Well-written story of odd behaviour in a late 19th C. British trading concession in the Belgian Congo. I can only give it 3 stars because of the precipitate, and so unsatisfactory, ending. ( )

1897. In an isolated station in the Belgian Congo, an Englishman is to be tried for the murder of a native child. Imprisoned in a makeshift jail, Nicholas Frere awaits the arrival of the Company's official investigator while his friend, James Frasier, attempts to discover the circumstances which surround the charge.

The world around them is rapidly changing: the horrors of the Belgian Congo are becoming known and the flow of its once-fabulous wealth is drying up. Unrest flares unstoppably into violence.

Frere's coming trial will seek to determine considerably more than the killing of a child. But at the heart of this conflict is a secret so dark, so unimaginable, that one man must be willingly destroyed by his possession of it, and the other must both sanction and participate in that destruction.

In a narrative of ever-quickening and growing intensity, The Book of the Heathen explores notions of honor, friendship, justice and reason in a world where men have been forced by circumstance to descend into an abyss of savagery and terror. The Book of the Heathen is a stunning novel that truly evokes a Conradian heart of darkness.

A hauntingly bleak tale sparsely told portrays English imperialism at its worst. A nightmare world filled with casual cruelties,dark secrets and horrifying truths. Compelling and ultimately unforgettable ( )

It's 1897, and the Europeans are in Africa exploiting the people and the country's resources. Most of the action takes place in the station of an unnamed British Company (simply known as "The Company), at a quarry. As the story opens, one of the Englishmen, a Nicholas Frere, has been seized and awaits the Company's official investigator who must look into Frere's alleged killing of a child. The circumstances surrounding the event are at best vague, but Frere will talk to no one, especially his friend James Frasier, about what really happened. Frere had been prone to going off on small excursions alone, to observe and detail life in Africa, and it was during one of these outings that the incident occurred. Frasier is convinced that Frere is innocent and that he is being used as a scapegoat so that the rest of the world can believe that there is actually some sort of justice on behalf of the native populations. This was the time of very vocal, anti-imperialist crusaders such as Roger Casement, who had worked in the Belgian Congo and had witnessed first hand the horrific abuse of the indigenous populations. (If you want a good look at this time period, do NOT miss King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochshild, which goes into great detail.

As the cover blurb states, this book "explores notions of honor, friendship, justice and reason in a world where men have been forced by circumstance to descend into an abyss of savagery and terror." I couldn't have said it any better...so far away from civilization, the book really looks at the darkness that creeps into men's souls...and perhaps the irony of the novel is that the one viewed to be the darkest may have been the best of them all in a situation where human life is dealt with as cheap and expendable all in the name of profit.

I think if I had known about this book when I had my college students read Conrad's Heart of Darkness, I may have used this book instead. It is an amazing story, and one you won't soon forget after having read it. I am looking forward to now reading some of Edric's other works.

Who would like this? Anyone who has an interested in this time period and in imperialism at its worst, or anyone who wants something different than the usual stuff in the bookstore shelves. I VERY highly recommend this book. ( )