Novel set in Indonesia (intrigue decades apart…)

3rd August 2016

Black Water by Louise Doughty, novel set in Indonesia.

Black Water is a very informative, and very sympathetic, read… Set in Indonesia in 1965 and 1998, it revolves around first the PKI communist uprising and then, 33 years later, around the overthrow of President Soeharto.

John Harper is born of a Dutch mother and an Indonesian father. His father dies before his birth. He is brought up by his mother, first in Indonesia, then in the States and finally in the Netherlands – a complicated and pretty unhappy childhood. In his mid 20s he joins the Institute – a Dutch company to whom multinational companies and even governments outsource their intelligence gathering in dangerous parts of the world.

He is posted to Indonesia just as the PKI is coming to the fore, and his return to the country of his birth is steeped in intrigue and deception. He is employed as a courier collecting and delivering lists of communist agents to the authorities. Many will be brutally murdered as a result of his activities. He leaves Jakarta and heads to Bali to make contact with a sympathiser – whose family members are immediately slaughtered by the insurgents… did he lead them to their death? Harper survives, but at great personal cost which comes to haunt him. He suffers a breakdown and returns to the Netherlands.

Fast forward through 33 years of desk bound research, and Harper is again sent back to Indonesia – just as the uprising against Soeharto is coming to a head. He flounders, is out of his depth, and drinks too much – he is sent ‘on leave’ to the Institute’s bungalow in the country, while they decide what to do with him. He is quite paranoid about the possibilities. He does though fall for a local Western teacher, and much of the story is about their developing relationship – how gradually trust increases, and how they begin to be honest about events in their past.

Black Water is an intriguing book on several levels. Much of it is based on fact, and it informs about relatively unknown periods in Indonesian history. Events are truly brought to life. But it is also a great deal more… Harper is an empathetic (if flawed) character. We can identify with what he has been though in his life – and with his paranoia. His developing relationship with Rita is well and sympathetically described. A book that is well worth reading.

Tony for the TripFiction Team

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