The African scenes are intercut with episodes set in Kent, in the south of England, telling the parallel stories of two brothers, Gabriel and Felix Cobb, whose lives change irreparably as they are drawn, one after the other, into the war. In his personal life he has contracted gonorrhea from Hazel, his black mistress who is cheating on him, while Priscilla, his boss's daughter on whom Leafy has lustful ambitions, has just got engaged to his hated underling.

Boyd has been with his wife Susan since they met as students at Glasgow University and all his books are dedicated to her. The New Confessions showcases not only Boyd’s superb historical instinct but also his ability to perceive the significance of modern cultural representation through the evolution of photography, journalism and cinema.Murray into not filing a report in which Murray will issue his decision that the land is unsuitable for the university. Leafy is an ass, and he brings most (but not all) of his troubles on himself, yet he has the reader’s sympathy throughout. This has catastrophic effects, beyond the medical treatment required, for the hero learns from Doctor Murray about his diagnosis just as he is about to spend the night with an inebriated, horny and determined Priscilla.

Today's crossword puzzle clue is a general knowledge one: Author of 16 novels including A Good Man in Africa, Any Human Heart, Restless and Trio. Trio is William Boyd’s 16th novel – and that’s before we get on to the dozen or so screenplays for film and television. Channel 4 and Carnival Films (makers of Downton Abbey) changed his mind when they promised him six hours in which to tell the story.He wrote the television screenplays Good and Bad at Games (1983) and Dutch Girls (1985) (collected in book form as School Ties in 1985), and has adapted two novels by Evelyn Waugh for television: Scoop (1987) and Sword of Honour (2001). Every building was roofed with corrugated iron in various advanced stages of rusty erosion, and from the window of the Commission -- established nobly on a hill above town -- Morgan could see the roofs stretch before him, an ochrous tin checker-board, a bilious metallic sea, the paranoiac vision of a mad town planner. People experience these tragedies all the time, there's nothing special about it, you're not a Job figure. Any Human Heart is also, more simply, a rich and frequently moving study of the inevitability of life’s passage. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting.