Born in Guyana in 1921 and based in England since 1959, Wilson Harris is one of the most original novelists and critics of the twentieth century. His writings, which include poems, numerous essays and twenty-four novels, provide a passionate and unique defense of the notion of cross-culturalism as well as a visionary exploration of the interdependence between history, landscape and humanity. In 2010 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to literature.

With themes of ecological mismanagement in the wild areas of Guyana, this visionary novel follows Zechariah Stevenson, the son of a wealthy Georgetown businessman, while he works as the watchman at a timber factory deep within the interior. Isolated in the forest and having endured a fraud scandal, the mysterious death of his father, and the disappearance of his mistress, Zechariah begins a journey of self-discovery as he deconstructs previously held certainties about life by losing himself in nature. An immensely sensuous evocation of Guyanese flora and fauna, this novel is a profound plea for an ecological vision of mankind's relationship to nature.