First published 2023
In the sweltering heat of British-controlled Burma, a young colonial police officer faces an impossible moral dilemma. When a rampaging elephant threatens a local village, the officer finds himself trapped between colonial expectations and personal conscience. As hundreds of Burmese villagers watch, he must decide whether to shoot the elephant—a valuable imperial asset—or risk appearing weak in the eyes of those he's supposed to control. The moment becomes a searing microcosm of imperial power: each potential action carries devastating consequences. One decision will reveal the brutal mechanics of colonial oppression, and the psychological violence inflicted on both the colonizer and the colonized.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, moral-ambiguity
Setting: Bleak Future
Period: Bleak Future
192 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Classics
Content warnings: colonialism, violence