C.B. K. reviewed on 10/2/2009 + 38 more book reviews

Young, alone and far from her family in England, primate researcher Hope Clearwater contemplates the extraordinary events that left her washed up like driftwood on Brazzaville Beach. It is here, on the distant, lonely outskirts of Africa, where she must come to terms with the perplexing circumstances of her recent past. For Hope is a survivor of the devastating cruelties of apes and of men alike. And to move forward, she must first grasp hard and elusive truths--about marriage and madness, about the greed and savagery of charlatan science...and about what compels seemingly benign creatures to kill for pleasure alone.

"At once mythic and provocative...a novel of ideas, of big themes...William Boyd is a champion storyteller." The New York Times Book Review

"Breathtaking...rich in action and thought...Boyd is a daring craftsman, a writer who allows the scope of his work to expand to the point of bursting." Los Angeles Times Book Review

"What an engaging yet intellectually challenging novel this is...a bang-up adventure with substantial phrenic heft." People

"Remarkable...a bravura tale...'Brazzaville Beach' stands out like a clipper ship in a harbor full of dinghies." Atlanta Journal and Constitution

"A tour de force..daring...riveting...an altogether splendid entertainment." Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A gripping story told with a calm, austere beauty, as though in the aftermath of a tropical storm."

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