Short-listed for the Whitbread Novel Award, "The Catastrophist" is a haunting novel set in the politically charged landscape of the Belgian Congo just before independence. At its heart is the passion between novelist James Gillespie and the fiery idealistic journalist Ines, whom he follows to Africa as their affair begins to fray. They are as unlike as lovers can be; he is willfully apolitical and desperate for her love, while she is obsessed with the unfolding drama, caught up in history, hero-worship, and soon, a new passion. In a country that will self-destruct upon giving birth to itself, Gillespie is plunged into violence and betrayal, and moved by love to a final act of nobility. In his ravishing U.S. debut, Ronan Bennett delivers heart-stopping suspense, profound moral questioning, and a searing depiction of a doomed love.
- ISBN10 0684870363
- ISBN13 9780684870366
- Publish Date 25 September 2000 (first published 2 July 1998)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 1 December 2011
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Simon & Schuster Ltd
- Format Paperback
- Pages 336
- Language English