A Good Man in Africa - William Boyd

Meet Morgan Leafy, first secretary of the British High Commission in Nkongsamba, capital of the mid-west region of the no-where West African country of Kinjanja. He hasn't got the right social background, hasn't attended the right schools, has drudgingly worked his way up in the diplomatic service to find himself in this hot, humid, dead-end place among people he hates (his boss and a colleague), despises (most of the other Europeans living there) or doesn't understand (the natives). He drinks like a fish, he's overweight, permanently randy, misanthropic, a born loser. As if this weren't enough, some weeks before Christmas when we get to know Morgan, external ...  Read the complete review