num_pages: 448
description: In 1968 Papua New Guinea is on the brink of independence and everything is about to change. Amidst the turmoil filmmaker Leonard arrives from England with his Dutch wife Rika to study and film an isolated village high in the mountains. The villagers' customs and art have been passed down through generations and Rika is immediately struck by their paintings on a cloth made of bark. Rika and Leonard are also confronted with the new university in Moresby where intellectual ambition and the idealism of youth are creating friction among locals such as Milton  a hot-headed young playwright  and visiting westerners such as Martha to whom Rika becomes close. But it is when Rika meets brothers Jacob and Aaron that all their lives are changed for ever. Drusilla Modjeska's sweeping novel takes us deep into this fascinating complex country whose culture and people cannot escape the march of modernity that threatens to overwhelm them. It is a riveting story of love loss grief and betrayal.
language: English
title: The Mountain
publisher: Random House (Australia)