Pieces Of Light

Hugh Arkwright's remote childhood in the Central African bush, and its sudden disruption, leaves him with a legacy of magic, mystery and tragic loss. Late in his life, he returns to the gaunt house in Ulverton where he was brought up by his eccentric uncle, and finds that the old ghosts still walk, the old wounds still fester. The more he excavates his own past - his history and prehistories - the deeper he finds the traces of ancient horrors. As Hugh slowly unpicks his life, the autumnal air of Ulverton begins to take on the taint of corruption and a mystery starts to unravel - a mystery that ends in vengeance, murder and a sudden, staggering revelation. The mild English manners of the village have peeled back to reveal the beast under the skin- the heart of darkness beneath the heart of oak. Drawing on the mystery thriller traditions of Buchan and Wilkie Collins, and the ghost stories of Poe and M.R. James, Pieces of Light is a modern novel steeped in a resonant past- where rural England and colonial Africa collide. Densely wrought and vividly imagined, Adam Thorpe's return to Ulverton is a fictional triumph - thrilling and unforgettable.