At heart a simple tale of a thwarted love in late middle age. The story takes place in Abyla an enclave on the African shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. Often comic, with stock figures, not least of whom is Thomas Wavery, the out-of-favour British Consul.
The story clears itself once the parade of characters is developed. Then, among the side issues of construction of a tunnel to Europe, and an impending Royal Visit, the Consul's ardent hope that a new relationship will develop with a visit from his recent love drives the plot.
An imaginative, informed and moving novel.

Worth struggling past the disjointed first chapter. There are some memorable characters, foremost of which is the North African Spanish enclave of Abyla itself. There are echoes of Lawrence Durrell here, both in the wonderful sense of place and in the occasional tendency to overwrite. ( )