James Scudamore — Heliopolis

Harvill Secker 2009 Paperback, 278pp. Born in a Sao Paulo shantytown, Ludo undergoes a remarkable transformation. Directed by forces beyond his control, he first leaves, then returns to the vast city of his birth - but on the opposite side of its social divide. Now twenty-seven, he works for a vacuous 'communications company', marketing unwanted, unaffordable products aimed at the very underclass into which he was born. He has developed an obsessive, adulterous love for his adoptive sister, whose husband is his only friend. And he has an appetite that can never be satisfied. Welcome to the world of Heliopolis. By turns comic, violent and poignant, it is a rags-to-riches tale like no other - the story of a man whose destiny moves him around like a chess piece, and risks taking him to the brink of madness and brutality. Uncorrected Proof. (ISBN: 9781846552687). Very Good.