The Lotus Eaters

'A tremendously evocative debut, a love story set in the hallucinatoryatmosphere of war, described in translucent, fever-dream prose.' Janice Y.K. Lee, author of the bestselling 'The Piano Teacher' As the fall of Saigonbegins in 1975, two lovers make their way through the streets, desperatelytrying to catch one of the last planes out. Helen Adams, a photojournalist,must leave behind a war she has become addicted to and a devastated countryshe loves. Linh, her lover, must grapple with his own conflicting loyaltiesto the woman from whom he can't bear to be parted, and his country.Betrayal and self-sacrifice follows, echoing the pattern of theirrelationship over the war-torn years, beginning in the splendour of AngkorWat, with jaded, cynical, larger-than-life war correspondent Sam Darrow,Helen's greatest love and fiercest competitor, driven by demons she canonly hope to vanquish. Spurred on by the need to get the truth of the warout to an international audience, and the immense personal cost thiscarries, Sam and Helen's passionate and all-consuming love is tested to thelimit. This mesmerising novel carries resonance across contemporary warswith questions of love and heart-breaking betrayal interwoven with theconflict.