The Paradise Trail
By (Author) Duncan Campbell
Headline Publishing Group
Headline Review
1st January 2009
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
823.92
Paperback
448
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 28mm
297g
A witty, poignant and, at times, tragic novel about the passing of an age where nothing seems to matter until the hard, cruel world comes knocking at the door.
It's 1971, and the travellers who end up in the flea-pit Lux Hotel in Calcutta are determined to have a good time. There's ex-public schoolboy Gordon, the cool American Larry,a weird pair of Australians, and Freddie Braintree, the acid casualty. Their scene is innocence and inner journeys. But there's a war going on between India and Pakistan and a mysterious hippie killer is lurking in the dark alleyways of the city. Meanwhile, Hugh, the straight one who is trying to build a career, is covering the war for a British newspaper but he hasn't a clue what he is doing. The shocking massacres and brutality he witnesses cast a long shadow over all their lives.Duncan Campbell is a senior correspondent with the Guardian, where he has worked as the paper's crime correspondent and Los Angeles correspondent. He has written five non-fiction books including The Underworld, That Was Business, This Is Personal and Billy Connolly: The Authorised Version. He previously worked for Time Out and contributed to OZ, IT and The Rising Nepal. He is actress Julie Christie's partner.