The Catastrophist by Ronan Bennett

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Gillespie, an Irishman, goes to the Congo in pursuit of his beautiful Italian lover Ines. Unlike her, Gillespie has no interest in the story of the deepening independence crisis, nor in the charismatic Patrice Lumumba. He has other business: this is his last chance for love. Ronan Bennett was brought up in Belfast. He is the author of two previous novels, The Second Prison and Overthrown by Strangers. In 1993 he wrote Double Jepardy, about the trial of three police officers charged with framing the Guildford Four. He has written screenplays for film and television, including the acclaimed Face, directed by Antonia Bird, and is currently working on an adaptation of Seamus Deane's Booker Prize short-listed novel Reading in the Dark.

Here's what the members of the Reading Group based at our Raheny branch library think of The Catastrophist:

This book has all the ingredients for a great story. It doesn't come off in my estimation. I found the first few chapters tedious. The pace quickened towards the end and it improved immensely. (Member of Raheny Library Reading Group.)