William Boyd is a seasoned and sophisticated novelist.
Born in Ghana, raised in Nigeria, and living in England and southwest France — Boyd’s well-travelled life is reflected in the protagonist of Gabriel’s Moon, travel writer and occasional journalist Gabriel Dax.
It is in Léopoldville in the newly minted Democratic Republic of Congo where we meet Gabriel as an adult, employed by a Sunday newspaper and asked to interview the Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba.
Gabriel, who is not a political correspondent, is nervous about the assignment and is told Lumumba wants his interview recorded on tape. During the interview Lumumba says, "they want to kill me".
When asked who, Lumumba says the British, the Americans, President Eisenhower — and it is all about uranium.
On his flight home, which without explanation is upgraded to first class, Gabriel notices a female passenger reading his latest travel book. When leaving his Chelsea flat in London, he sees the same passenger in the street, who he attempts to catch up with but she disappears.
A few months later while having dinner in a local restaurant, the same woman pulls out a seat at his table and introduces herself as Faith Green. She asks Gabriel to do a favour for her organisation, MI6.
Faith wants him to masquerade as an agent for an art collector and buy a particular painting from a particular person, offering to pay him well. But Gabriel refuses. She turns up on his doorstep some time later to double the offer, which Gabriel accepts.
Running alongside this is a more personal drama, as Gabriel sees a psychotherapist about his insomnia and seeks to solve a childhood trauma.
The outcome of Gabriel’s trip into the world of espionage is far more surprising and tense, as he is immersed into a world of intrigue and deception.
It is both plausible and frightening with several twists and turns.
By Anne Stevens
