2025/139: Rainforest — Michelle Paver

... it was such a surreal experience being up there among the leaves, in that green inhuman world. I felt completely other. I didn't belong. [loc. 1123]

The year is 1973. Dr Simon Corbett, entomologist, is forty-two and in need of a fresh start after the death of his beloved Penelope. An expedition into the depths of the Mexican rainforest, hoping to find new species of mantid, seems just the thing. But Simon can't help blaming himself for Penelope's death, and he's haunted by memories of her. Discovering (he didn't read the paperwork) that the expedition he's joining has an archaeological focus, he's indignant: but despite not believing in life after death, he's beguiled by the secrets of the Maya, and fascinated with the local indigenous people ('Indians') descended from them.

It's soon clear that Simon is an unreliable narrator. He's also in a precarious state of mind, in which applying the scientific method to shamanic ritual seems eminently sensible. He begins to believe that something of Penelope remains, and can be called back...

I didn't find this as terrifying as Thin Air -- and, having reread that novel recently, I noticed some of the same signature beats. There's the first-person, sometimes self-justifying narrative voice; the silencing of the world around Simon when terror intrudes into the mundane; the childhood conflicts with his brother; the desperate attempts to apply common sense... Paver's evocation of the rainforest is immensely atmospheric: her characterisation of Simon is a masterclass in the gradual erosion of dishonesty. 

Plenty of period-typical attitudes towards indigenous people, homosexuality, paedophilia, and sexual harrassment -- but there are also affectionate and detailed descriptions of insects (especially mantids) which made me warm towards them, and several scenes in which Simon's love and respect for the natural world came close to redeeming him as a human being.

From the Afterword it's clear that Paver has been suffering writers' block: I'm glad that she was able to overcome it and write Rainforest. Though I don't think it will be as frequent a reread for me as Thin Air, it was thoroughly engaging.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy! UK Publication Date is 9th October 2025.