‘A cool and witty sequence … a polished and professional performance’

Guardian

Spencer Savage, a young American consul, is posted to Ayer Hitam, a small Malaysian town, in the 1970s. Told to close down this remote outpost in the sweltering jungle, he instead finds himself drawn to the many characters he meets among the Malays, Indians, Japanese, Chinese, and the clubbable expat Brits.

Through his eyes we see the rich tapestry of multi-ethnic life in post-colonial Malaysia, from adultery to murder, from ghost stories to the murky waters of diplomatic politics.

It is a brilliant portrait of a vanished time, a lost landscape and scattered peoples.

‘Theroux’s writing is at its most adventurous in The Consul’s File. There is no book I can compare this to- Mr Theroux’s artistry is individual, serene, yet also grainy with fierce truths’

The Times