Hailed in Europe as a literary, philosophical, and psychological masterpiece, Alberto Manguel's novella Stevenson Under the Palm Trees is now being published in Canada. With Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous creator of Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as his protagonist, Manguel paints a portrait of the writer's final days on the island of Samoa.

Fighting the consumption wracking his body, Stevenson has moved with his family to the South Seas to escape the damp climate of his native Scotland. He is embraced by Samoan people, nicknamed Tusitala, "the teller of tales", and his life is spent quietly writing. But one day he encounters a strange man with a familiar Scottish brogue, a missionary with crazed ideas and the ability to mysteriously disappear.

Strange things begin to happen on the island and Stevenson finds himself caught in the middle of a series of inexplicable crimes. Exploring themes of duality and the influence our dreams have on reality. Manguel has crafted a wicked tale about the nature of creation that demonstrates he is a master of the novella form. This is a beautiful, poetic story that will excite and haunt its readers as both Alberto Manguel and Robert Louis Stevenson show that no one can walk innocently under the palm trees.

Internationally acclaimed as an anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist, and editor, Alberto Manguel is the bestselling author of several award-winning books, including A Dictionary of Imaginary Places, with Gianni Guadalupi, and A History of Reading. Manguel grew up in Israel, where his father was the Argentinian ambassador.

In the mid-1980s, Manguel moved to Toronto where he lived for twenty years. Manguel's novel, News from a Foreign Country Came, won the McKitterick Prize in 1992. During the 1990s, he wrote regularly for the Globe & Mail (Toronto), the Times Literary Supplement (London), the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Review of Books, the New York Times, and the Svenska Dagbladet (Stockholm). In 2000, Manguel moved to the Poitou-Charentes region of France, where he and his partner purchased and renovated a medieval farmhouse. Among the renovations is an oak-panelled library housing Manguel's collection of 30,000 books.

Célébrité internationale à plus d’un titre — il est anthologiste, traducteur, essayiste, romancier et éditeur — Alberto Manguel est l’auteur du Dictionnaire des lieux imaginaires, en collaboration avec Gianni Guadalupi, et d’une Histoire de la lecture, entre autres succès de librairie. Manguel a grandi en Israël où son père était ambassadeur de l’Argentine.

Au milieu des années 1980, Manguel s’installe à Toronto où il vivra pendant vingt ans. Il reçoit le McKitterick Prize en 1992 pour son roman News from a Foreign Country Came (Dernières nouvelles d'une terre abandonnée). Pendant les années 1990, il a été collaborateur régulier au Globe & Mail (Toronto), au Times Literary Supplement (Londres), au Sydney Morning Herald, au Australian Review of Books, au New York Times et au Svenska Dagbladet (Stockholm). Depuis 2000, Manguel habite la région française de Poitou-Charentes, dans une maison de ferme du Moyen-Âge qu’il a achetée et remise à neuf avec son compagnon. Parmi les rénovations, une bibliothèque lambrissée de chêne qui abrite les 30 000 livres de la collection de Manguel.

Alberto Manguel's profile page

Thanks to Alberto Manguel, the fictional and the real Stevenson meet at last. Did a Mr. Hyde lurk deep inside the master storyteller?

Le Monde

A beautiful and disquieting story about the author of Treasure Island.

Le Nueva Espana

This metaphysical thriller reminds us that literature can allow us a risk-taking existential experience.

Tagesspiegel

By its end, the novella feels less audacious than utterly lucid and logical, elegantly composed and comfortably told, without pomp or excess.

The Record

Stevenson Under the Palm Trees is an unnerving and entertaining novella...

Edmonton Journal

Questioning a novelist in search of the theme of the double, Alberto Manguel has written a novel that is a masterpiece of the literature of today.

La Marseillaise

...the tiniest of gems...in this age when fewer and fewer people say they have time to read, to create a provocative fable that can be devoured in a couple of hours is not an accomplishment to sneer at.

Globe and Mail

...an exquisite and haunting gem.

Maclean's

...the lyrical prose sustains a narrative of refinement, resonance, and aching sadness...Manguel proves himself a gifted writer in the short story form.

Toronto Star