Stephen Holgate Books

A chance meeting at a dinner party in Paris turns the life of Philip Reid, an aging and cynical American diplomat, upside down, sending him back more than twenty years to when he had been a younger and better man. In those days, for a brief moment, Bandula, scion of the island's most powerful family, had been Philip’s closest friend. Now, he finds his onetime companion bitter and humbled by life. In a tale marked by terrorist bombings, political assassination, romance, and intrigue, we follow the tragedies that lead Bandula to a life in exile and Philip to the attainment of dreams that lose their meaning even in the moment of their fulfillment. In their serendipitous meeting, both men gain a chance at redeeming the past.

In a fly-blown bar on the backside of Paris, Kip Weston--drunk, broke and aimlessly wandering Europe--runs into an acquaintance who offers him a job on a small tourist barge around the canals of Burgundy. Kip hesitates, until the friend mentions that an elderly American has been asking after him. For reasons unclear, he is a hunted man. Kip soon finds himself in unanticipated peril when an American guest mistakes him for a "wanted" young man from upstate New York. After the Americans depart, the next party of guests prove even more unsettling. With two bodyguards in tow, Carbonne, an arrogant and mercurial business tycoon arrives with his much younger mistress, Brigitte. Though the rest of the crew makes a show of welcoming him, they clearly know and fear him. It soon becomes clear that the bodyguards are not there to protect Brigitte, but to make her a prisoner because she knows too much about Carbonne's crimes. The plot quickly builds. Soon, Kip and Brigitte undertake a surreptitious love affair that, if discovered, could prove fatal for them both. When the police come looking for Brigitte, the crew runs them off, but everyone realizes the authorities are closing in. As the tension on board ratchets up, a terrified Brigitte agrees to flee with Kip, but they're journey is only starting to reveal the many layers of their situation.

The novel weaves together themes of political life, coming of age, and family drama, all set against the backdrop of archaeology. It explores the connections between past and present, highlighting the influence of ancestry on personal growth and future possibilities. Through its engaging narrative, the story imparts wisdom about the complexities of life and the impact of history on individual journeys.