THE EYE OF THE LEOPARD

Hans Olofson is the son of a Swedish lumberjack. His childhood wasunsettled: an alcoholic father, and a mother disappeared, only alive inold photographs. His adolescence was no easier as he lost both his bestfriend and his lover tragically. Alone and adrift, as a young man his onlydesire is to fulfil his lover's dream and visit the grave of a legendarymissionary who survived alone in the remote hills of Northern Zambia. Onreaching Africa, Olofson is struck by its beauty and mystery. Afterfulfilling his initial quest, an opportunity of employment in the regiontempts him to stay. Time passes quickly. Though dismayed by the attitudeof the white population to their adopted country, which is compounded bytheir vulnerability to alcohol and malaria, he is interested enough totake up sole responsibility for the farm he manages.For almost two decadesHans Olofson battles with a hostile environment and a placid, but resistantworkforce. Set in the 1970s and 1980s, "The Eye of the Leopard" exploresthe relationship between the white farmers and their native workers. Through Olofson's descent into near mental collapse it becomes clear thatmany years spent in a foreign land do not necessarily breed anunderstanding of its people: a handful of generations of white settlerscannot change a continent underpinned by myth and superstition. "The Eyeof the Leopard" is a first-rate and original psychological thrillerdelving deep into the mind of a man lost in an unknown world.