Book description
Part memoir, part travelogue,
Tales From the Torrid Zone
is rooted in his birthplace, the tiny tropical republic of Vanuatu
where his father ran its hospital and his mother, in her front garden,
built its first school. From this obscure South Seas group he ranges
over the hot, wet, beautiful swathe of the world that has haunted him
ever since - dines with a tropical queen in a leper colony, makes his
way across tropical Africa (and two civil wars) in a forty-four-year-old
flying boat, delivers a new church bell to a remote Oceanian island and
visits scores of countries to learn about their history, politics,
medicine, flora and fauna (including the remarkable role of the coconut
in tropical life). But, as becomes plain, the torrid zone is not just a
geographical phenomenon, it’s also a state of mind. The result is a
witty, entertaining and immensely readable book from a fine storyteller.
Alexander Frater has contributed to various UK publications and the New
Yorker; as chief travel correspondent of the London Observer
he won an unprecedented number of British Press Travel Awards. He lives
in London, though, whenever time and money allow, is likely to be found
skulking deep in the hot, wet tropics.
