The Sheltering Sky

The Sheltering Sky was Paul Bowles' most famous novel, made into a film in the 1990s.

Bowles settled in Tangier in the late 1940s and lived there for the rest of his life, although he did travel abroad from time to time.

I read the book earlier this year. Its cover was similar to this photo of the sky above Dalia Village in Morocco. Like the book, the photo is unsettling and perhaps surreal to some. Bowles begins the story in Tangier (or maybe it was Oran, Algeria) and follows the story of a spoilt, young American couple. He, Port Moresby (yes, really, the capital of Papua New Guinea), is seeking a journey within himself that takes him and his wife Kit into the furthest reaches of the Maghreb. Port eventually dies of typhus fever. Kit abandons herself to white slavery, not able to bear the thought of returning to regulated American life.

The principal characters are thinly veiled representations of Bowles and his wife Jane.

This was our last day of 'good' weather on the holiday.