On an inward-looking island dominated by the Catholic Church, John Lestrade mourns both the death of friends and the inauthentic, suffocating quality of his own life. When he feels he can no longer find solace in his regular means of escape--a room on a hill--he forsakes his self-imposed exile and finds himself drawn to action and defiance. Opening himself up to change, John discovers hope and gleans the possibility of change and an escape from the inauthentic. Originally published in 1968, this intense and minimalist novel engages philosophical ideas, religious tradition, and colonial consciousness.

Garth St. Omer is a professor emeritus at the University of Santa Barbara. He is the author of J-, Black Bam and the Masqueraders; Nor Any Country; Shades of Grey; and Syrop. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.