The Heart of the Matter

“From first page to last . . . an engrossing novel” of betrayal and espionage on a colonial outpost during World War II (The New York Times). In a British colony in West Africa, Henry Scobie is a pious and righteous man of modest means enlisted with securing borders. But when he’s passed over for a promotion as commissioner of police, the humiliation hits hardest for his wife, Louise. Already oppressed by the appalling climate, frustrated in a loveless marriage, and belittled by the wives of more privileged officers, Louise wants out. Feeling responsible for her unhappiness, Henry decides against his better judgment to accept a loan from a black marketeer to secure Louise’s passage. It’s just a single indiscretion, yet for Henry it precipitates a rapid fall from grace as one moral compromise after another leads him into a web of blackmail, adultery, and murder. And for a devout man like Henry, there may be nothing left but damnation. Drawn from Graham Greene’s own experiences as a British intelligence officer in Sierra Leone, The Heart of the Matter is “a powerful, deep-striking novel . . . of a spirit lost in the darkness of the flesh” (New York Herald Tribune).

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