Adam is a broken man. Having lost his job and his home in Johannesburg, he has moved into an abandoned home his brother owns on the edge of town. He wants to write poetry, but his creative well is as dry as the arid soil that surrounds him. Soon he meets Canning, an old friend from his childhood, and Canning’s wife, Baby. Together they explore Canning’s new fortune; a huge inheritance and a vast citadel in the African jungle. In such lush surroundings, Adam feels passion stirring within him once again. Unfortunately, his passions have been stirred by the one woman he will never possess.

Damon Galgut is a master at exploring the duplicity of man. In Adam’s character, he traces shadows and light, desire and frustration, all set against an unforgettably barren landscape. Galgut was short listed for the Man Booker prize in 2003, and deservedly so; his work is both lyrical and important, his country’s conflicts mirrored in the stumbling footsteps of each and every one of his characters. Both brutal and yet also strangely meditative, The Imposter is a compelling take on love, loyalty and obsession. Not to be missed.