Stevenson Under the Palm Trees - Dundurn

Stevenson Under the Palm Trees

A Novella

Published August 2003

Hardcover
$ 19.95

Description

Hailed in Europe as a literary, philosophical, and psychological masterpiece, Alberto Manguel’s novella Stevenson Under the Palm Trees is now being published in Canada. With Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous creator of Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as his protagonist, Manguel paints a portrait of the writer’s final days on the island of Samoa.

Fighting the consumption wracking his body, Stevenson has moved with his family to the South Seas to escape the damp climate of his native Scotland. He is embraced by Samoan people, nicknamed Tusitala, "the teller of tales", and his life is spent quietly writing. But one day he encounters a strange man with a familiar Scottish brogue, a missionary with crazed ideas and the ability to mysteriously disappear.

Strange things begin to happen on the island and Stevenson finds himself caught in the middle of a series of inexplicable crimes. Exploring themes of duality and the influence our dreams have on reality. Manguel has crafted a wicked tale about the nature of creation that demonstrates he is a master of the novella form. This is a beautiful, poetic story that will excite and haunt its readers as both Alberto Manguel and Robert Louis Stevenson show that no one can walk innocently under the palm trees.

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Contributors

Alberto Manguel

Alberto Manguel is the author of A History of Reading, an international bestseller chosen as Best Book of the Year by The Times Literary Supplement, and winner of France's Prix Medici. His book Reading Pictures was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction. Manguel was born in Buenos Aires, has lived in Italy, England, and Tahiti, and is now a Canadian citizen.

Book Details

Hardcover
August 2003
4.375x7.25 in
120 pp
9780887621383