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A Kind of Light
Two stories, two journeys into the darkness…
Thomasina le Mesurier writes in her journal of finding a miraculous plant which has the potential to save thousands of lives with its medicinal properties.
A plant which could have saved her beloved mentor and friend, Doctor Diver, who fell ill with the Typhoid Fever.
She insists on venturing deep into the jungle to source the healing plant and take it back to England.
Despite warning, Thomasina ventures off, following Doctor Diver’s notes…
But is she chasing after a delusion?
The forest is rumoured to hold unmentionable terrors and unfathomable enigmas, but regardless, Thomasina embarks on her journey into the heart of Africa, accompanied only by three local bearers.
Can she survive the dangers of the dark? And what will her journey bring?
In the present day a young couple, David Teigh and Theresa Olivia Mountjoy, stumble upon an article about the writings of Thomasina.
They soon set off on their journey, following in Thomasina’s footsteps, to discover the remaining notebooks preserved in the depths of Africa, all the while recording a documentary film of their treacherous journey.
Will the adventurers’ respective searches come to a satisfying, or a more gruesome end?
One thing is certain, no traveller who undertakes this expedition can emerge unchanged…
A Kind of Light will take you on a perilous journey through Africa’s forests.
An exploration of race, imperialism and feminism, this novel has influence from Conrad, yet is unique to Keating.
Through two interwoven and contrasting narratives, one set in the Victorian era and the other 100 years later in the 1980s, A Kind of Light raises eternal questions on the human condition.
‘One of his best … It really is a top-notch story.’ Birmingham Post
‘Few who pick up this latest offering from a master will be disappointed by the superior fare on offer here.’ Crime Time
H.R.F. Keating , a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, was the crime books reviewer for The Times for fifteen years. He has served as Chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Society of Authors, and in 1987 was elected President of the Detection Club. He has written numerous novels as well as non-fiction. He is perhaps best known for his Inspector Ghote series, the first of which, The Perfect Murder, was made into a film by Merchant Ivory and won a CWA Gold Dagger award, as did The Murder of the Maharajah.
Thomasina le Mesurier writes in her journal of finding a miraculous plant which has the potential to save thousands of lives with its medicinal properties.
A plant which could have saved her beloved mentor and friend, Doctor Diver, who fell ill with the Typhoid Fever.
She insists on venturing deep into the jungle to source the healing plant and take it back to England.
Despite warning, Thomasina ventures off, following Doctor Diver’s notes…
But is she chasing after a delusion?
The forest is rumoured to hold unmentionable terrors and unfathomable enigmas, but regardless, Thomasina embarks on her journey into the heart of Africa, accompanied only by three local bearers.
Can she survive the dangers of the dark? And what will her journey bring?
In the present day a young couple, David Teigh and Theresa Olivia Mountjoy, stumble upon an article about the writings of Thomasina.
They soon set off on their journey, following in Thomasina’s footsteps, to discover the remaining notebooks preserved in the depths of Africa, all the while recording a documentary film of their treacherous journey.
Will the adventurers’ respective searches come to a satisfying, or a more gruesome end?
One thing is certain, no traveller who undertakes this expedition can emerge unchanged…
A Kind of Light will take you on a perilous journey through Africa’s forests.
An exploration of race, imperialism and feminism, this novel has influence from Conrad, yet is unique to Keating.
Through two interwoven and contrasting narratives, one set in the Victorian era and the other 100 years later in the 1980s, A Kind of Light raises eternal questions on the human condition.
‘One of his best … It really is a top-notch story.’ Birmingham Post
‘Few who pick up this latest offering from a master will be disappointed by the superior fare on offer here.’ Crime Time
H.R.F. Keating , a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, was the crime books reviewer for The Times for fifteen years. He has served as Chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Society of Authors, and in 1987 was elected President of the Detection Club. He has written numerous novels as well as non-fiction. He is perhaps best known for his Inspector Ghote series, the first of which, The Perfect Murder, was made into a film by Merchant Ivory and won a CWA Gold Dagger award, as did The Murder of the Maharajah.
232 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2017
6 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
H.R.F. Keating
157 books54 followersHenry Reymond Fitzwalter Keating was an English writer of crime fiction most notable for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID.
H. R. F. KEATING was well versed in the worlds of crime, fiction and nonfiction. He was the crime books reviewer for The Times for fifteen years, as well as serving as the chairman of the Crime Writers Association and the Society of Authors. He won the CWA Gold Dagger Award twice, and in 1996 was awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for outstanding service to crime fiction.
Series:
. Inspector Ghote
. Harriet Martens
Series contributed to:
. Malice Domestic
. Perfectly Criminal
H. R. F. KEATING was well versed in the worlds of crime, fiction and nonfiction. He was the crime books reviewer for The Times for fifteen years, as well as serving as the chairman of the Crime Writers Association and the Society of Authors. He won the CWA Gold Dagger Award twice, and in 1996 was awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for outstanding service to crime fiction.
Series:
. Inspector Ghote
. Harriet Martens
Series contributed to:
. Malice Domestic
. Perfectly Criminal
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 28, 2017
“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.”
John Milton, Paradise Lost
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is an exploration, not only into the Dark Continent but also of the darkness of human heart. Marlow’s search for Kurtz, who descended into the inferno, divulges the evil on the prowl. But a journey into the Dark is also necessarily a journey in search of the Light.
Perhaps this is what motivated H.R.F.Keating to write a novel as homage to Conrad’s masterpiece. And we come across striking similarities( dissimilarities?)between two works.
In the HOD, Marlow sets on a journey in search of Kurtz whose enigma mystified him. In AKOL, Tom (Theresa) sets out on a journey to find Thomasina’s last volume of diary, whose other volumes she comes across after almost 100 years of the woman’s exploration into the dark forests to find a magical herb. Whereas in HOD, Marlow comes across a horrific facet of the tribal people, in AKOL, Thomasina and even Tom witness the generosity of tribals in the way they are helped in their respective journeys. In HOD, towards the end, we observe the horror as pointed by Kurtz, who couldn’t resist the temptation to become one with the evil ways of tribals, in AKOL, we witness how the last volume of Thomasina’s diary turns out to be empty because she finds her true happiness as she finds love in the forest.
But whereas the HOD focuses only on the dark and evil pervading the dark forest and human mind, AKOL focuses on the good. Though the HOD is referred to by the characters in the work, the reference doesn’t situate the context with the work rightly. Although I liked the idea of Keating to treat the journey into dark as that towards light, but it doesn’t come across as homage to Conrad’s masterpiece as mentioned in the blurb.
The narrative style in the work is alternative. The voice shifts from epistolary to third person and vice-versa continuously. That is, we read through Thomasina’s diary and Theresa’s journey alternatively. But the glitch here is that though Thomasina’s account is smooth and gripping, the dialogue between Theresa and other characters or the third person narrative sounds hackneyed. It makes one wonder if the whole text was written in the diary style, would it have served the book better?
Still this work has its own charm and some snippets from the diary are worth reading and contemplating. Here are some of the quotes that I liked:
"I'm sorry", he said after a little. "But I just hated the thought of it all. I don't know. It seemed like a terrible,futile pathetic attempt to impose order on-on what isn't ordered. Those drums beating out that rhythm,not to send any message, but to try to say everything's right,everything's good. God's in his heaven and we're thumping out some nice music."
"I write for a few minutes before we attempt to find our way round, or force our way through the terrible matted tangle that lies in our path. I should be filled with new resolution. But my night was so afflicted with dreams, no, by one nightmare of appalling vividness, that I find myself prey to a dragging unwillingness to set one foot in front of another. I do not know why I should have been so enmired as I slept."
Before reading this work, I hadn’t come across the author’s name which is surprising because Keating has produced a good volume of work, most of it being crime fiction and one series called Inspector Ghote being written with Indian background. Some of his works have also been made into movies (one volume turned into a movie starring Nasserudin Shah, a famous Indian actor). He has also won some awards and was a prominent crime book reviewer for the Times.
I would sure like to delve into his crime fiction and other works to explore the writer.
*3.5 Stars
P.S. Thanks to Endeavour Press for a copy of the work to review.
John Milton, Paradise Lost
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is an exploration, not only into the Dark Continent but also of the darkness of human heart. Marlow’s search for Kurtz, who descended into the inferno, divulges the evil on the prowl. But a journey into the Dark is also necessarily a journey in search of the Light.
Perhaps this is what motivated H.R.F.Keating to write a novel as homage to Conrad’s masterpiece. And we come across striking similarities( dissimilarities?)between two works.
In the HOD, Marlow sets on a journey in search of Kurtz whose enigma mystified him. In AKOL, Tom (Theresa) sets out on a journey to find Thomasina’s last volume of diary, whose other volumes she comes across after almost 100 years of the woman’s exploration into the dark forests to find a magical herb. Whereas in HOD, Marlow comes across a horrific facet of the tribal people, in AKOL, Thomasina and even Tom witness the generosity of tribals in the way they are helped in their respective journeys. In HOD, towards the end, we observe the horror as pointed by Kurtz, who couldn’t resist the temptation to become one with the evil ways of tribals, in AKOL, we witness how the last volume of Thomasina’s diary turns out to be empty because she finds her true happiness as she finds love in the forest.
But whereas the HOD focuses only on the dark and evil pervading the dark forest and human mind, AKOL focuses on the good. Though the HOD is referred to by the characters in the work, the reference doesn’t situate the context with the work rightly. Although I liked the idea of Keating to treat the journey into dark as that towards light, but it doesn’t come across as homage to Conrad’s masterpiece as mentioned in the blurb.
The narrative style in the work is alternative. The voice shifts from epistolary to third person and vice-versa continuously. That is, we read through Thomasina’s diary and Theresa’s journey alternatively. But the glitch here is that though Thomasina’s account is smooth and gripping, the dialogue between Theresa and other characters or the third person narrative sounds hackneyed. It makes one wonder if the whole text was written in the diary style, would it have served the book better?
Still this work has its own charm and some snippets from the diary are worth reading and contemplating. Here are some of the quotes that I liked:
"I'm sorry", he said after a little. "But I just hated the thought of it all. I don't know. It seemed like a terrible,futile pathetic attempt to impose order on-on what isn't ordered. Those drums beating out that rhythm,not to send any message, but to try to say everything's right,everything's good. God's in his heaven and we're thumping out some nice music."
"I write for a few minutes before we attempt to find our way round, or force our way through the terrible matted tangle that lies in our path. I should be filled with new resolution. But my night was so afflicted with dreams, no, by one nightmare of appalling vividness, that I find myself prey to a dragging unwillingness to set one foot in front of another. I do not know why I should have been so enmired as I slept."
Before reading this work, I hadn’t come across the author’s name which is surprising because Keating has produced a good volume of work, most of it being crime fiction and one series called Inspector Ghote being written with Indian background. Some of his works have also been made into movies (one volume turned into a movie starring Nasserudin Shah, a famous Indian actor). He has also won some awards and was a prominent crime book reviewer for the Times.
I would sure like to delve into his crime fiction and other works to explore the writer.
*3.5 Stars
P.S. Thanks to Endeavour Press for a copy of the work to review.
July 29, 2017
What a wonderful book! The writer is a artist and should be more famous.
The story is about a young english women who goes to African. She want to explore wild florests. But some people think she is crazy.
In the present day, an cuple go to Africa in way to discover what happens with Tomansia.
Is inspiring in the great classic " Heart of darkness". Shows the african continent that little people know.
I want to know more about the writer. And I hope more people read his books.
The story is about a young english women who goes to African. She want to explore wild florests. But some people think she is crazy.
In the present day, an cuple go to Africa in way to discover what happens with Tomansia.
Is inspiring in the great classic " Heart of darkness". Shows the african continent that little people know.
I want to know more about the writer. And I hope more people read his books.
December 30, 2025
Past storyline - 4, Present day storyline - 2
Full review to follow
Full review to follow
August 27, 2022
This book was discovered in HRFK’s writing cupboard after his death. No one knows why it was never published. He had many other titles to his name. And it’s not a bad read, if a little dated somehow. A kind of light is a quotation from Heart of Darkness: Conrad inspires so many writers. And yet the mysterious jungle, the white man’s grave and so on has fallen out of fashion. His Victorian heroine, Miss Le Mesurier’s liberation by education, Darwin and trekking up the then River Congo to find happiness living there with her African lover is clearly a theme that the author is keen to explore; but quite a lot of the book feels a bit formulaic and full of stock characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 15, 2018
Review en español debajo.
A very interesting adventure book, which pays homage to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. With a double story, between that of a Victorian lady who enters the heart of Africa, and a couple and their recording team for a documentary, in the 80s, tells a parallel story of the impact of the African continent on the heart and the mentality of these Europeans, accustomed, each in their world, to a different rationality.
It is a good adventure novel, with reflections on what is important in life, and abandoning yourself to a new world.
Thanks to the editors for giving me a copy to enjoy.
Review en español:
Un libro de aventuras muy interesante, que homenajea el Corazón de las Tinieblas de Joseph Conrad. Con una doble trama, entre la de una dama victoriana que se adentra en el corazón de África, y una pareja y su equipo de grabación para un reportaje, en los 80, nos cuenta una historia paralela del impacto del continente africano en el corazón y la mentalidad de estos europeos, acostumbrados, cada uno en su mundo, a una racionalidad distinta.
Es una buena novela de aventuras, con reflexiones acerca de lo importante en la vida, y abandonarse a un mundo nuevo.
Gracias a los editores por cederme una copia para disfrutar.
A very interesting adventure book, which pays homage to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. With a double story, between that of a Victorian lady who enters the heart of Africa, and a couple and their recording team for a documentary, in the 80s, tells a parallel story of the impact of the African continent on the heart and the mentality of these Europeans, accustomed, each in their world, to a different rationality.
It is a good adventure novel, with reflections on what is important in life, and abandoning yourself to a new world.
Thanks to the editors for giving me a copy to enjoy.
Review en español:
Un libro de aventuras muy interesante, que homenajea el Corazón de las Tinieblas de Joseph Conrad. Con una doble trama, entre la de una dama victoriana que se adentra en el corazón de África, y una pareja y su equipo de grabación para un reportaje, en los 80, nos cuenta una historia paralela del impacto del continente africano en el corazón y la mentalidad de estos europeos, acostumbrados, cada uno en su mundo, a una racionalidad distinta.
Es una buena novela de aventuras, con reflexiones acerca de lo importante en la vida, y abandonarse a un mundo nuevo.
Gracias a los editores por cederme una copia para disfrutar.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews