Leila

A Scotsman in 1950s Asia becomes entangled in love and political unrest: “As a storyteller, Jenkins has few equals.” —Tribune

Set in the Far East in the 1950s, Leila is a tender love story involving a Scottish teacher, Andrew Sandilands, and Leila, the exotically beautiful daughter of a local politician. Leila is, like her father, implicated in the revolutionary tremors shaking the small country, and the lovers are soon torn between the small-minded mores of the expatriate community and Leila’s determined efforts to play a role in her country’s future. The masked oppression of the regime forms the backdrop to a novel where personal dramas collide with the legacies of colonialism, in this absorbing novel from the prize-winning author of The Cone Gatherers.

“A remarkable writer.” —The Times