The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene

The Heart of the Matter is set in a British colony in west Africa during one of the world wars, I think the Second World War. Scobie, a police officer, is above reproach until he is passed over for promotion and forced to borrow money from a Syrian trader to send his wife on holiday. In her absence he falls in love with a young widow and inexorably his conscience and love of God lead him to disaster.

This is an extraordinary book. I'd previously read The Quiet American, also by Greene, and that was pretty good but I think this is far superior. It's not as political as The Quiet American but the human story is far more compelling and convincing. Scobie is a middle-aged man and a Catholic living in a very different time and place and yet, despite being so utterly different to me, I really felt like I was inside his head and his heart. The novel explores the notion of what love is and where love and pity intersect and which is the stronger emotion. Scobie's downfall comes because he is not able to put his own eternal salvation above the happiness of the women he loves.

I'm quite keen to read more of Greene's books. They seem to be set in all different places from Vietnam to Cuba. The Power and the Glory is meant to be another of his best and I we have a copy of The Comedians somewhere.

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