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The Travelers by Delaney Henderson A-Argus Better Book Publishers
book review by Ken La Kier
"Is that what we're really here for? Ann didn't ask the question out loud, it was barely formulated in her mind; but she realized Jane had brought her to Essouria to buy chess sets to smuggle hashish."
Ann, a wandering soul, from America, travels to Africa to explore Morocco. Floating from town to town, clique to clique, she looks like she's searching for companionship which she's never short of finding, but we never know what she really wants. She drifts and makes connections, but is she looking beyond for a feeling, a sight, a person?
Set in 1974, she meets up with several groups of people: Americans, Moroccans, gay men, straight men, prostitutes, and drug dealers. It's a seedy lifestyle at times, but Ann finds people who protect her and carry her through her dream. She's the American ambassador, the American explorer trying to find for herself what the rest of the world holds. From the beginning, we know this gloomy, wistful story will have a hopeful ending and some redemption for a future. When our intrepid traveler returns stateside, escaping danger, she finds guidance from an unusual source, comfort returning home to California.
Travlers is Brett Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero set in far flung Morocco half-way around the world from its predecessor. The story is set in a terse Hemingway prose, which reads well and propels you at a fair pace through the novel. The novel is a ride through Africa on a cloud where the rain is always about to fall on your head, but never falls directly on you, as if you were born under a lucky umbrella.