Leopard in the Afternoon

Leopard in the Afternoon is a captivating story of a journey through some of Africa’s most spectacular haunts; and it is the most unusual story of how one of Canada’s most successful financiers, disillusioned with the world of business, found that a tenting safari became also a journey of discovery that would change his life irrevocably.

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The Man-Eater of Punanai

The Man-Eater of Punanai is a fascinating story of a past rediscovered through a remarkable journey to one of the most exotic countries in the world — Sri Lanka. Full of drama and history, it not only relives the incredible story of a man-eating leopard that terrorized the tiny village of Punanai in the early part of the century, but also allows the author to come to terms with the ghost of his charismatic but tyrannical father.

More than a simple tale of adventure, the story is the revelation of a colourful but troubled past — a charmed life which abruptly ended when the author was sent to school in England, away from the security of childhood and the family he loved so much. Through an evocative narrative we come to understand the forces that shaped this successful, mercurial man and that eventually impelled him to give up much of his power in the business world in exchange for a more satisfying quest.

In his photographs and his highly personal narrative, Christopher Ondaatje has captured all of the exotic drama of Sri Lanka: the jungles of Yala, the family tea estate, the ancient ruined cities, and, eventually, the strife-torn village of Punanai — now the scene of a different terror. The journey’s drama is heightened by accounts of intriguing meetings with people who were very much a part of the family past — privileged members of a declining colonial society. There were risks, too, but through it all the bold quest for truth drove the author relentlessly to a final and inevitable confrontation.

“...a remarkable account of a journey into the past and the present. It is also an act of stark confrontation: wilful, alarming, and poignant.” John Fraser, Editor, Saturday Night, from the introduction.

“This is both an original and a compulsively readable book. The author has blended the story of his pursuit of the leopard in Sri Lanka with the pursuit of his own past. He has mingled adventure with reflection, history with legend, in a fascinating and revealingly personal narrative.” Charles Ritchie, Author, The Siren Years.

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Sindh Revisited

ISBN 1590482212

Sindh Revisited is the remarkable story of the author’s fascination with the early life of Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890). It is the story of an incredible journey, too — deep into the heart of British India, and the India and Sindh of today.

The very name of Sir Richard Burton conjures up images of adventure. His search for the source of the Nile with John Hanning Speke contributed to his being the best-known traveller of the nineteenth century. Burton was an outstanding orientalist, archaeologist, linguist, anthropologist, and a controversial diplomat. His over fifty books covered an amazing diversity of subjects, and his translation of the Arabian Nights remains the most famous ever published. The startling drama of Richard Burton’s existence continued even after his death. His remaining papers were burnt by his widow, perhaps one of the most destructive crimes ever perpetrated on the literary world.

Christopher Ondaatje’s Sindh Revisited is the extraordinarily sensitive account of the author’s quest to uncover the secrets of the seven years Richard Burton spent in India in the army of the East India Company from 1842 to 1849. “If I wanted to fill the gap in my understanding of Richard Burton, I would have to do something that had never been done before: follow in his footsteps in India…” The journey covered thousands of miles—trekking across deserts where ancient tribes meet modern civilization in the valley of the mighty Indus River.

What was it that Burton discovered in India? What was it that changed him from a rebellious, wayward youth into a man of courage, imagination, wisdom and personal power? Through this unique book and the journey it describes, we come nearer than ever before to understanding the mystery of Richard Burton and the devils that drove him.

Here is drama and insight, danger and revelation — a rare first-hand glimpse into a world few of us know. Startling photographs complement this narrative which puts the reader on the scene in modern Sindh while never losing sight of the Victorian India of Burton.

Woolf in Ceylon

ISBN 1590482220