River of Hope

For the doctor and missionary, Albert Schweitzer, life on the banks of the Ogowe river has settled into a kind of tranquillity. Since returning to Gabon from his wartime internment in France he has rebuilt his hospital, and when not treating his patients for leprosy, scabies or gangrene he has his music, his letters from his wife, and his books.

Then the Welshman, Adam Hope, comes to Lambaréné, a riverboat captain and trader in alcohol and timber, deeply troubled not only by his actions during the Great War but by his complicity in the injustices of colonialism. With him comes Pieters the Belgian, dissolute and degenerate, and between them they wield the power to destroy Schweitzer’s work — or save it.

This new novel by the award-winning writer, Roger Granelli, is at once a vivid evocation of the beauties and horrors of the primeval forest; a profound meditation on redemption, violence and revenge; and an intricate portrayal of colonial relationships as Europe’s age of dominance comes to an end.

‘His characters breathe, make you care. One day the people that count will realise that Roger Granelli is… the best un-sung novelist in Wales.'

Phil Rickman

‘Roger Granelli writes fluently and vividly… creating characters and atmosphere effortlessly,’

New Welsh Review

About the Author

Roger Granelli was born and bred in Wales, and educated at the University of Warwick and Cardiff University. He is a writer, a professional musician, and a landscape photo­grapher.

He has published a novella and ten novels in various genres and styles, including the Palermo stories, depicting organised crime, and the Mark Richards trilogy, featuring a petty criminal turned private eye. His first novel, Crystal Spirit, was set in the Welsh Valleys and Spain during the civil war. He has won three writing awards for his work, and contributed numerous short stories to magazines and radio. His collected stories, Any Kind of Broken Man, with a foreword by Phil Rickman, were published by Cockatrice Books in 2022, and were followed by a new novel, River of Hope, exploring personal and colonial relationships in Gabon between the wars at Albert Schweitzer’s hospital.

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Paperback: ISBN: 978-1912368457 | Format: 12.7×20.3cm / 5×8” | Length: 218 pages | Price: £9.99.
Ebook: ISBN: 978-1912368518 | Format: DRM-free epub | File Size: 401KB | Price: £1.99.

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