Honeysuckle hanging its fangs. Foxglove rearing its opened belly. Dogrose touching the membrane. And through the dew’s mist, the oak’s mass Comes plunging, comes tossing dark antlers....

The discussion​ of V.S. Naipaul’s new novel needs to refer to two in particular of his previous fictions. The novella In a Free State depicts – more accurately, glimpses or surmises...