Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga

A novel about a small colony in the Congo inhabited by employees of a French rubber company who direct the natives in the extraction of rubber from the jungle. The book is about the relationship between the local tribes and their French employers as well as the political wranglings between the French for control of the encampment. The writing is good but the characters are very difficult to engage with as they are portrayed in a very two dimensional way. I also found the plot quite dry and at times almost boring. The more interesting characters, such as the camps champion marksman, were disappointingly underdeveloped and similarly the more interesting plot lines, such as the love affair between a French lieutenant and a local girl, were simply dropped without any exploration. This novel is not bad and the writing in particular is enjoyable but it does not live up to its potential and could have been a lot better.