The Sheltering Sky

by Paul Bowles

In Brief

Three American lives unravel on a misguided visit to the the Sahara following the end of the Second World War. Originally an attempt to reinvigorate a flagging marriage, the apparently aimless journey destroys whatever was left of it and annihilates the travellers' previous existence forever.

Why you should read it

This is a novel that you do not simply read: you are taken hostage by it. No other book has conveyed with such intensity the claustrophobia of endless space. No other work of fiction, except perhaps Heart of Darkness, has exposed so plausibly the ultimate savagery of the human heart.