New York: Grove Press, (2003) dj. Hardcover first edition - Sri Lanka-born author's fourth book, one which combines memory and romance with violent adventure. "Set on an environmentally devastated tropical island this follows a Londoner named Marc, who comes to the island to find his father but instead gets caught up in a passionate affair with an ecological activist. When he arrives at the country's only hotel, the run-down Palm Beach Inn, Marc encounters a scarred landscape nothing like the idyllic pictures painted by his grandfather Eldon. . His lover, Uva, opens new doors as she teaches Marc about her efforts to continue farming against the wishes of the island's repressive regime. Government troops begin tracking Uva, and soon soldiers attack and destroy Uva's farm.. There's a spark in Gunesekera's writing that gives his characters life; the affair between Marc and Uva is especially rich and subtle.: (Publishers Weekly) 234 pp. ISBN: 0-80211735X.