Book Description
In this vivid, powerful novel, Chatwin tells of Francisco Manoel de Silva, a poor Brazilian adventurer who sails to Dahomey in West Africa to trade for slaves and amass his fortune. His plans exceed his dreams, and soon he is the Viceroy of Ouidah, master of all slave trading in Dahomey. But the ghastly business of slave trading and the open savagery of life in Dahomey slowly consume Manoel's wealth and sanity.
"This is Conrad's Heart of Darkness seen through a microscope." --The Atlantic Monthly
"Dazzles and mystifies, with its lush anger, its impacted memory, its gorgeous desolation." --The New York Times
About the Author
Born in 1942, Bruce Chatwin was the author of six books, including In Patagonia, On the Black Hill, and The Songlines. He died in 1989.
Viceroy of Ouidah FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this vivid, powerful novel, Chatwin tells of Francisco Manoel de Silva, a poor Brazilian adventurer who sails to Dahomey in West Africa to trade for slaves and amass his fortune. His plans exceed his dreams, and soon he is the Viceroy of Ouidah, master of all slave trading in Dahomey. But the ghastly business of slave trading and the open savagery of life in Dahomey slowly consume Manoel's wealth and sanity.
"This is Conrad's Heart of Darkness seen through a microscope." --The Atlantic Monthly
"Dazzles and mystifies, with its lush anger, its impacted memory, its gorgeous desolation." --The New York Times