In the lush, uninhibited atmosphere of Samoa, Robert Louis Stevenson is languishing with the disease that will soon kill him; when a chance encounter with the mysterious Scottish missionary, Mr Baker, turns his thoughts back to his conservative, post-Reformation Edinburgh home.

As Stevenson's meetings with the tantalizingly nebulous missionary become increasingly strange, a series of crimes against the native population sours the atmosphere. With its playful nod to Stevenson's life and work Manguel has woven an intoxicating tale in which fantasy infiltrates reality.

"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 (France) *

"Stevenson Under the Palm Trees, under the pretence of being a crime story, is really a dark reflection on the power of our dreams ... a finely crafted jewel." - * Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil) *