The Bay of Foxes

by Sheila Kohler

An erotic tale of passion and power and their dangerous consequences

In 1978, Dawit, a young, beautiful, and educated Ethiopian refugee, roams the streets of Paris. By chance, he spots the famous French author M., who at sixty is at the height of her fame. Seduced by Dawit's grace and his moving story, M. invites him to live with her. He makes himself indispensable, or so he thinks. When M. brings him to her Sardinian villa, beside the Bay of Foxes, Dawit finds love and temptation—and perfects the art of deception.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Africa, LGBT, Historical, France, Realistic Fiction

206 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 2012

About the author

Sheila Kohler was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the younger of two girls. Upon matriculation at 17 from Saint Andrews, with a distinction in history (1958), she left the country for Europe. She lived for 15 years in Paris, where she married, did her undergraduate degree in literature at the Sorbonne, and a graduate degree in psychology at the Institut Catholique. After raising her three girls, she moved to the USA in 1981, and did an MFA in writing at Columbia.

In the summer of 1987, her first published story, “The Mountain,” came out in “The Quarterly” and received an O’Henry prize and was published in the O’Henry Prize Stories of 1988. It also became the first chapter in her first novel, "The Perfect Place," which was published by Knopf the next year.

Reviews

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite novels. Set in Paris, Sardinia and Rome, The Bay of Foxes is a haunting tale of alienation, deception and terror. Dewitt, a displaced Ethiopian young man haunted by his brutal past meets M, an esteemed writer who is more than twice his age. Soon their lives become entwined as M views Dewitt as her possession and he views her as his ticket out of poverty. This is the second time I've read this novel and it still amazed me. Brilliant and mesmerizing

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted here.

Before I started, all I had to go on was this brief description above and a blurb, which describes the novel as 'erotic.' With that in mind, I was really expecting something very different than what I found. I was expecting melodrama, but what I found was a sort of calm, spare prose, lovely and bare. I had no idea what The Bay of Foxes would be like or that I would enjoy it so much.

Personally, I would not describe this novel as erotic. Certainly, sex is a main theme of the novel, but there are no graphic, lurid, romanticized descriptions. I don't think this book is about living vicariously through Dawit's sex life. It's more about the impact sex has upon his life.

However, I suspect that this label may have been used as a way to scare some readers away and perhaps entice others. While the book isn't erotica, I imagine that it would offend a number of readers. This novel touches on issues that are tender for a number of people: torture, prostitution, and gay sex, for example. If you are easily offended, this book probably isn't for you. It's unashamedly dark and creepy.

Part of what intrigued me about this book before I read it was the comparison to Patricia Highsmith, which is on my version of the cover, although not pictured above. I've read a couple of Highsmith's novels and, though she may be incredibly insane, I really think few people can do creepy like she can. Well, Kohler definitely deserves the comparison to Highsmith. If you enjoyed The Talented Mr. Ripley or Strangers on a Train or some other Highsmith novel, you definitely should not miss checking out The Bay of Foxes.

Another awesome thing about The Bay of Foxes is getting to learn a little bit about Ethiopia. My knowledge of African history is extremely limited, so I was able to learn a lot even from the relatively brief references herein. I love seeing this diversity in the characters, as well. Also, look at this beautiful and not whitewashed cover!

The only thing that I was meh about was the ending, which does the thing where this book has actually been written and published by one of the characters thing. I have always hated this trope, mostly because I don't feel like it really adds anything to the story. Every time I read one that does that, I make the DUN DUN sound from Law & Order.

The Bay of Foxes is wonderful literary fiction, especially for readers that love twists and psychological thrillers.

[Claire McMillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer, Sheila Kohler was my professor. That said, I've read all her books and this may be my favorite. Like Patricia Highsmith meets JM Coetzee. Dark, disturbing, glamorous, sophisticated, complex and with something important to say. So finely put together and underneath you can sense her intellect at work. A quick ripping away of my reality and setting me in her world in the way the best books do.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawit is eighteen and an illegal immigrant trying to find work or scraps of food on the streets of Paris in 1978. Having fled persecution in Ethiopia where he was the child of aristocratic parents (his father was a royal diplomat and his mother a princess, both killed in the uprising), he has nothing to go back to - he would, in fact, be immediately imprisoned again. He was tortured both physically and mentally, until he escaped the jail and the country and made his way to France by selling his dead mother's jewellery. Staying with a sympathetic Ethiopian man, Asfa, and his large family, Dawit is behind on contributing to the rent and food and feels that Asfa's generosity can only last so long.

By day he wanders the streets, kneels in churches to pray, or slips into cafes with coins enough to buy the cheapest thing on the menu. It is while he is one such cafe that he meets M, a world-famous author now in her sixties, elegant and beautiful, he thinks. A fan of her work, when she beckons him to her table Dawit tells her about his life in Ethiopia - knowing that she lived as a child in Somaliland and often writes about Africa.

M invites him to live with her, though he doesn't truly understand the arrangement or what will be expected of him. With the money she gives him, he gets himself a new change of clothes, buys food for Asfa's family and gives Asfa more towards the rent. Then he goes to M's opulent apartment beside the Luxembourg Gardens, and their friendship begins. M is an alcoholic and a smoker, writing on a typewriter in her bed, a skinny, almost emaciated woman with white hair and a masculine, husky voice which Dawit can impersonate perfectly. He takes on the role of her assistant, forging her signature, answering her phone and sometimes pretending to be her. He responds to mail and edits her manuscript - a work which, as time goes by, he finds more and more to be terrible.

In M's slim-fitting, elegant and expensive clothes, Dawit, with his smooth glowing skin and beautiful face, cuts quite the figure, and accompanies her to events and dinners. In the summer, they leave Paris for Cala di Volpe - the Bay of Foxes - in Italy, where Dawit meets an older married man from Rome, Enrico. It is when the two begin their affair, meeting in a hotel room at the country club after playing tennis, that the distance between M and Dawit grows. M's jealousy and bitterness turn against Dawit, and he soon finds himself in a place of no return, facing a choice that is no choice, and paying a price for his freedom that turns him sick with guilt. Dawit is alone in the world, with no one to look out for him but himself, but is the price he pays for his newfound freedom worth it?

This excellent novel is brimming with atmosphere and the kind of characters who live larger than their descriptions on the page. It has been likened to The Talented Mr Ripley, which I haven't read yet (it's on my TBR mountain), but I have seen the film and I would say there are a few similarities. I also had to wonder whether Kohler was even poking fun at herself by possibly modelling part of M on herself - this impression isn't based on much beyond their hair and the fact that they both write short literary novels, often to much acclaim. So maybe not Kohler herself precisely, but her generation of women writers...? M doesn't come across well, so even if that was a starting point, she quickly became a character in her own right.

Dawit's story is quite haunting and full of moral ambiguity, the kind of story that puts you in an uncomfortable place, where right and wrong become blurred due to the sympathy - and even empathy - you feel for him. True, he was one of the pampered upper class in Ethiopia, schooled in Europe, with skiing trips and the like, but he's just a boy when the Derg take over. His father is executed, his mother dies of untreated wounds, and Dawit is locked up and tortured on the flimsiest of precepts. His remembrances of this time in Ethiopia, what he endured and what he went through to escape, build a necessary foundation for his character and everything that comes after. It's not a story about Ethiopia, but it is about post-colonialism and its effects on the colonised. It's about an Ethiopian refugee trying to take control of his life in a foreign country, his attempt to make a new home for himself, and his desperation to cling to what he's gained. It's in his small blunders - and in the suspicious gaze of M's editor, Gustave - that the stakes are revealed and our sympathy for Dawit increases. After telling the story of his father's execution to M, Gustave and Gustave's wife, Simone, over a fancy lunch, he realises his mistake.

He looks at them with smoldering rage, as though they were the ones responsible for all this carnage. He realizes he has said too much, with too much vehemence; he has shown them what he feels, and he hates them for their indiscreet, probing questions, their idle curiosity. He feels empty, as though he has lost something precious, his pride.

[...] He has revealed more than he wanted to, more than they wanted to hear, caught up in the bright light of their interest and what he took for sympathy. He has felt obliged to entertain them, and now he has spoken of these deaths, which mean more than anything else in his life. He has spoken in order to sing for his supper. Now they turn from him, from the emptied shell. They talk among themselves about something entirely unconnected to his tragic tale. [...] He has made a fool of himself, speaking of something intimate that they could never really share. He feels deflated, humiliated, pricked and airless like a balloon. He and his most intimate feelings, the tragedy of his young life, his country, are but a moment of diversion. [pp.64-66]

The power play between Dawit and these affluent, cultured Parisians is never more stark as when Dawit finds himself in the position of "singing for his supper." Even though he is one of them, class-wise - or even higher up - he is still the poor African boy, homeless and destitute, his time in prison and his escape from Ethiopia forever severing any connection he had once had with these colonising Europeans - wiping the slate clean, reducing him to nothing. He owes everything to M, the clothes he wears, the food he eats, the bed he sleeps in, but interestingly enough Dawit is content enough with working as her assistant in return. The narrative has a fine, even ironic eye, and the descriptions of Dawit's working relationship with M are superb:

Generally, he takes care of all the mundane details of her life, leaving her free to write, like so many literary couples before them. He considers himself naturally easygoing, pliable up to a point. He aims to please. He is used to trying to ingratiate himself, to question, to listen, and to give good advice. He was an only child who was often in the company of intelligent adults, courtiers in the various palaces of the Emperor or on trips abroad. He learned at an early age what to say to please his sophisticated father, who had loved him in a distracted, distant way, and how to calm his mother's constant anxiety. Only Solo, though older, followed him around the palace gardens and into the hills. Only Solo deferred to him completely, obeying his every wish.

Dawit adapts to M's schedule, her way of life. He listens to her, gives her good advice, and makes himself available to her. But there is a part of him she never reaches, a secret part that watches her with ironic detachment. Mentally he takes notes on the movements of her fine hands, her every expression, her particular words. He speaks her language perfectly, but she does not know a word of his. Despite her upbringing in Somalia, she has never taken the trouble to learn any of the languages of the country, he notes. He comes to know all about her intimate life, her work, her desires, but she knows very little about him. Like all colonizers, he thinks, she is ultimately the dupe. [p.54]

It is often how the relationship between servants and their employers is described too, though in that case the intimate knowledge the servants have is balanced - or cancelled out - by their dependency and inferior standing. The parallel between M and Dawit and the coloniser and the colonised is far more telling, and much more pertinent, with Dawit originating from Ethiopia. Dawit is, to M and her circle of acquaintances, something of a curiosity, a glittering souvenir, an attraction. He's beautiful, for one, and very well educated for another, but completely at their mercy. He has no passport, no visa, nothing of his own. It creates a very uneasy, perilous tension throughout the story.

The contrast between the plot and the theme of colonisation continues in Rome, where Dawit sees buildings he recognises from his parents' postcards and recalls the history he learned as he gazes around at the city.

Everywhere he looks, history was made, Italian history, with all its ambiguity. He thinks of the efforts the Italians made to colonize his country and his countrymen's brave resistance: his grandfather's stories of the Battle of Adwa, where the Italians expected an easy conquest and instead suffered a humiliating defeat. How proud his grandfather was of the soldiers he had led as a very young man into battle. How ironic that Dawit should be here now. [p.176]

Italy failed to take over Ethiopia, and it fails to take Dawit, too.

Because I was so caught up in the story as it played out, I didn't necessarily see what was coming. Part of me suspected as much, but I wasn't sure where the story was going - the blurb gives away little, and I like not guessing. That way, the outcome had greater impact for me, and I actually enjoy the psychological turmoil it put me in. I wanted things to work out for Dawit, I could actually understand why he did what he did, and I didn't want him to be caught. I thought it would play out differently than it did - more in line with Mr Ripley - but instead, the ambiguous ending leaves you wondering about Dawit's fate, not at all sure, and this uncertainty means you are kept off-balance even after the last page. Dawit writes a book he calls The Bay of Foxes, which he first says is about his life in Ethiopia, but why would he give it that title if it wasn't also a confession? Plagued by guilt as he is, I'm leaning towards thinking he's going to throw in his chance at living a free and successful life. I'm curious to hear what others think.

Kohler's prose is both deceptively light, playing it fast and loose across the page even while delving into deeper issues and troubled psyches. Even simple sentences can speak volumes, about a character, about perception and illusion, about a broader context. It's gripping in the mystery and tension that's created, and also very interesting in the dynamic it explores, the situation Dawit finds himself in as well as the story of his past. M remains something of an elusive figure, and yet, through Dawit's perception of her which quickly loses its gloss and shine, we likewise lose interest in who she is and what makes her tick. This ensures she doesn't get much sympathy from the reader.

I didn't manage to connect with Dawit, though, in the way that I like, that emotional and intellectual connection that keeps you glued to the page and telling everyone how amazing a book is. It didn't quite hit that mark. For all I got to know Dawit, his thoughts and desires and fears, I never quite clicked with him. He remained somewhat aloof, distant, estranged, alien. And at the same time, I too was cast in the role of white coloniser, listening to Dawit's story with the kind of fascination that can only come from someone who has never experienced such things and never will.

Reading this novel was an interesting psychological experience, on many fronts, and adds to the vivid feel of the story, the tension and an underlying sense of menace, almost - usually coming from M herself. You can read it as a simple, engrossing story, or you can read through the layers to other stories, winding through and beneath the main one. It is one of those books that can be read in several ways, but I doubt it will fail to be thought-provoking no matter how you read it. Like Dawit's perfect impersonation of M, it will creep in under your skin in ways you don't expect.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawit is sitting in the back of the cafe and looks up when he sees the famous author, M, walk in and sit in the back also. She motions him over. He goes over to her table wondering what she wants of him. He sits with her and she wants to know about him and he gives her a short description of what his life has been. She gives him some money and tells him to come to her place in three days time. What in the world would she want of him?

Dawit takes the money and goes to the grocers to buy some food to share with the people he has been living with. They are surprised at such a feast that he has brought. He pays his friend some money that he owes him also. They all live in cramped conditions and are very poor.

Dawit goes to M's place and is led back to a small room with a bath that will be his. She tells him he can stay here and shows him the kitchen area where he can make his meals. What a coup!! Why is she doing this for him? After a time he feels guilty staying here and not doing anything to earn his way. He offers to help her in any way he can. Sometimes at night she goes to his room, turns on the light and watches him. She goes to his bed and asks him to touch her to make her feel like a woman. He tries without success. He tells her that he cannot. She has him touch her sex with his hands and mouth. She has him answering her mail, answering the phone, taking care of her mail, etc. He even edits some of her work she is doing on a novel. It gives him something to do. She then showers him with very nice clothes. "I cannot take these." She tells him its okay and also sets up a bank account for him where money is put into it regularly. How did he get so lucky?

M takes Dawit with her to her villa in Cala Di Volpe. There he continues to do M's bidding. He is her chauffeur and drives her about the island, and they go boating and swimming at the Bay of Foxes. She tells him to go into town and enjoy himself and maybe take up tennis again, as he had once played long ago. He does just that falling for the tennis instructor, Enrico. Enrico is married with children, but has a penchance for men. He and Dawit find a place to go to make love and spend time together. Seems like they cannot get enough of one another.

M becomes discouraged with Dawit as she knows he has a lover. She asks him to leave and gives him enough money to get by for a time. "Leave the checkbook and the keys." Oh my, this is a shock to Dawit as he does not want to give up this lifestyle. What will he do? M goes off to bed after taking a sleeping pill and drinking her vodka. Dawit cannot sleep. He tiptoes into her room now and turns on the light to watch her sleep. What is he planning and what will he do for the rest of his life?

I enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down until the last page was read. I think you will enjoy it also.

This book was a free book won by me through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways. I am always glad to be a recipient of books from Goodreads. I find many good reads this way. I thank Goodreads and Sheila Kohler for this book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A creepy psychological novel, an exploration of race, class and power, a window on history -- and all in about 200 pages, superbly written to boot. Set in 1978, "The Bay of Foxes" is about a young Ethiopian immigrant to France, Dawit -- living in squalor and lacking papers because he broke out of prison and fled the upheaval in his homeland -- who through a chance encounter in a Paris cafe takes up with a famous, much older writer, M. M. is smitten with Dawit -- or maybe just the idea of Dawit -- and invites him into her home, showers him with money and gifts, introduces him to her social circle. The child of nobility, Dawit is erudite, multilingual and well-educated, and soon charms M.'s friends and takes over her correspondence, even editing her work and posing as her on the phone. However, Dawit can't give M. the one thing she really wants from him: he's gay, not interested in being her lover. But he'll let her take it, and in return take her fine clothes and luxurious apartment.
"He speaks her language perfectly, but she does not know a word of his" -- this sums up the relationship between Dawit and M. She's rich, connected, older, white. He's penniless, lost, young, black. She has all the power -- almost all of it -- and she wields it.
When M. takes Dawit to her villa in Sardinia, on the Bay of Foxes, he falls in love, and must decide what to do from there.
Inevitable comparisons will be made between Dawit and Mr. Ripley -- Kohler nods to this by having one character reading a Patricia Highsmith novel -- but Dawit is not an unfeeling, amoral villain; he's a basically good person warped by horrible circumstances, who tries to rebuild his life and find himself. Kohler's present-tense writing moves at a good clip and kept me guessing. The story is gripping in a pit-of-the-stomach way -- it's hard not to sympathize with Dawit, even though he makes some very bad choices.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads give-away as an unedited draft. As it is written in third person narrative, it immediately drew me into the story. I have to admit that although I had a good idea as to the outcome, I couldn't put it down. I don't usually use the term "atmospheric", but this story, set it multiple locations past and present, was exactly that. I enjoyed it, did a double-take at the ending and will consider reading other books by this author.

[رغْدُ العَيْش · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first part: excellent. Second part: tolerable. Third: a complete disaster.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dawit came from a weathly family. His parents are dead and Dawit is an Ethiopian refugee living on the streets of Paris. M is a famous book author. When she sees Dawit, she invites him to share her meal with her. After hearing Dawit's story, M is intrigued and invites Dawit to move in with her at her villa known as the Bay of Foxes. Soon, Dawit and M start a relationship. Only the relationship is kind of one sided with M being the dominant one. Dawit does help M with her book.

I was greatly surprised by how much I got into this book. It is a twisted, psychological thriller. This book was like a evil game of cat and mouse, only there was two cats. Dawit was not as innocent as he was protrayed at first glance. M had many skeltons in her closet. I kind of wondered why the mystery surrounding M was all about as her big secret was really no surprise. With the mystery, if Dawit and M had formed a relationship, I would not have felt it Only because I did not really know M and the little bit that I did get to know of her, I thought she was standoffish The age difference between M and Dawit did not faze me. While, I did not like Dawit for the user he was, I was still intrigued by him and who he was. The Bay of Foxes is kind of like watching a foreign movie that is worth the price of admission.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kohler's writing style is so beautifully descriptive and lyrical that the story almost reads more like poetry. The main character, Dawit, has a complex and fascinating past that makes all of his interactions with other characters just as complex. Overall, not too long of a read, and definitely worth picking up.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big Sheila Kohler fan. "Cracks" is one of my favorite books. She did not disappoint with BAY OF FOXES. Creepy, mysterious, well written story of a young Ethiopian man who is taken in by "M", a famous author. She gives him everything- what she gets in return is the focus of the novel. The "M" character is compared to Margurite Duras.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review is up on the blog

[Kristie Bueno · Rating 4 out of 5]

To survive, to love, and the struggle to choose between the two. What a peculiar, thrilling tale of betrayal, lust, and fear. Emotions that drive one to the brink of losing his own identity.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Fast-paced and interesting. The Ethiopian revolution, Marguerite Duras, Paris, Sardinia, all of interest. Well-written too and kind of chilling. Want to read more by Kohler.

[Joel Nunez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining take on the Mr. Ripley genre. Can't wait for the movie version.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

By page three the author has instilled a heavy sense of dread. the gorgeous, young Ethiopian male refugee who sits in a Paris café is starving and so broken by a traumatic life he's capable of doing anything. He's already killed a man and he's only twenty. Where does he go from here? Just across the room as it turns out. He's picked up by an alcoholic famous writer in her sixties who takes him home and makes him her sex slave. Not easy because he's gay. The author's description of his feelings is amazing. He's well educated and capably edits her book while starting to write his own. he loves the luxury of her Sardina villa. He has a torrid affair with a man and his situation becomes intolerable. He murders the writer (one of the best murder scenes I've read) and forges her signature to obtain a pile of cash which he gives to a destitute friend when he returns to Paris. There he takes his book ' The Bay of Foxes' to the woman's editor. It promises to be a best seller.

[Andrea Irvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I don't remember what prompted me to buy this book as I had never heard of it or the author. Quite possibly the blurb on the cover calling it a "mesmerizing tale of sex, longing and murder!" Lol. The story itself was quite implausible to me in numerous ways. There were a lot of, "Yeah, right!" moments. Setting that aside, I did become engrossed in the story and gulped it down. There was something about the use of third person in this novel that sort of bothered me for some reason. I think it made it feel impersonal, perhaps.

[Marin · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is short, fast-paced and terribly dramatic in the best way

there's a review on the cover that reads something along the lines of Sheila Kohler at her best, mystery, sex and murder - and that is the most accurate thing that could be said about this book.

it was so good; I appreciated the length and how much she got done so concisely - the writing is also absolutely beautiful.

[Anamika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one has made it as one of my favourite books of all time. I can best describe it as a mashup between The Talented Mr. Ripley and Call Me By Your Name. I couldn't put the book down, Sheila Kohler had me hooked.

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read more as a short story or novelette. Characters had promise, but were reduced to tropes with very little substance.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclosure: I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Thanks to the publishers for the opportunity to read this book for an unbiased review.

The only tidbits I can add to the excellent reviews here are:

We get a clue to this novel's themes early on from the three paperbacks Dawit unpacks while settling in at M's Paris flat:

"a copy of Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal; Marguerite Duras' short stories, Whole Days in the Trees; and Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment."

I don't know how The Flowers of Evil relates, but M's life and work resemble Marguerite Duras' in many points. And Crime and Punishment? Well...!

There are nested levels of unequal power relationships here: colonizers and the colonized, emperor and courtiers, parent and child, guard and prisoner, besotted lover and indifferent object, rich and poor, citizen and immigrant...

Likewise, storytelling and deception: M is a novelist; Dawit feels like he is outside watching himself, "and he hears the voice like an echo writing the novel of his life." As M's secretary, he impersonates her in correspondence and on the telephone. More than one character realizes that "Lying is a lonely business."

[Shannon Yarbrough · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a peculiar little book this is! It's written in third person narrative but told from the point of view of one single character. Usually, such writing lends the book an ominous tone, and indeed it did here. The Bay of Foxes is the story of Dawit, an Ethiopian escaped prisoner in Paris, who is befriended by the famous and aging female author known only as M.

M. gives Dawit a place to stay and bestows money and clothing upon him in exchange for intimacy. Wanting to earn his way for a monthly stipend, he soon becomes her personal secretary and even helps edit her books. However, when Dawit takes a male lover, M. becomes jealous and things spiral out of control.

The reader really gets to know Dawit as his past is revealed, his parent's history, his imprisonment and such. But M. remains at a distance (possibly on purpose?) as the few details we learn about her come only from Dawit or other minor characters that are close business acquaintances of hers (Her publisher tells Dawit he is not the first!).

The oddity to the story is that Dawit frequently contemplates a short novel that M. is writing about their relationship. He says it's not very good, lacks dialogue, or does not have enough conflict. In turn, it's exactly like this book you are reading which leads you to wonder if you are supposed to be reading M.'s story (the truth is somewhat revealed in the end).

Those who are fans of Patricia Highsmith will immediately think of The Talented Mr. Ripley as I did, which makes this a fun psychological story, but also a very predictable one! Eventually, I was surprised to even see Highsmith mentioned in the storyline in a scene where Dawit's lover is reading a Highsmith book! A little homage to the inspiration for this book, perhaps?

Either way, it's a short character piece that lacked a lot of the intensity that Highsmith was so good at, but I still found The Bay of Foxes to be quite an enjoyable read.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sheila Kohler has written a book within a book...sort of. If you read her bio material on the cover, her life seems to mirror that of the second main character. Known only as M., this woman is a famous author, who was raised in the Middle East and lived in Paris. When we meet our protagonist, Dawit, an Ethiopian without papers living hand to mouth in Paris, he is smitten by meeting his favorite author, the famous M. She, in turn, is attracted to him and his background. She a wealthy Parisian, he a poor, but well-educated African. She takes him into her home, where his talents get him to become her secretary. She gives him money, a separate room and food. Is she trying to make amends to him because of her upper class guilt over what happened in Ethiopia at the end of the Emperor's reign. He begins to impersonate her voice in phone conversations. He begins to find fault with her novel-in-progress, and makes editing suggestions. Well, it's bound to happen. She soon comes to him at night and basically pleads for love...and sex. But, there is an obstacle in the way. I won't be a spoiler and reveal what this problem is, nor will I tell you what happens when they go to her villa in Sardinia.
Kohler has been compared to Patricia Highsmith, and I agree with the comparison. Similar themes of justice and ego that Highsmith uses (in her Ripley books come to mind) run through this book.
This is well worth the read. The prose is spare and taut. I found myself holding my breath toward the end. Read the book and find out why.

[Susanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though The Bay of Foxes isn't the sort of book I would normally pick up, I enjoyed reading it. The plot was well-paced and interesting. I found the author's style to be a bit different: wonderfully descriptive of the current scenes and surroundings but leaving out most details occurring between glimpses at the story. At times this lent a slightly rushed or underdeveloped feel to the book, yet I wasn't that bothered by it because I had the impression that the plot mattered less than the deeper meanings hidden within the novel.

As an examination of post-colonial relationships between African immigrants and Europeans, particularly those in the upper-class and literary circles, The Bay of Foxes is fascinating. Basically a sum-up of the entire book is how Dawit is exploited by rich people who see him merely as a superficially interesting African, and, in turn, how he responds to this treatment. As an examination of literary craft - including a mixture of the author's own life experiences, the lives of some of the popular mid-20th century European writers, and elements of metafiction - the novel is also fascinating. All around, The Bay of Foxes is a good, solid read. I'll now be looking out for more of the author's books.

[Lauren Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t difficult for me to see where this story was going. Although I can’t think of any specific examples, I’m pretty sure I’ve come across some version of this tale before. It also parallels Kohler’s earlier novel Cracks in several ways. Predictable as it is though, it’s not too bad. I like novels that intimately explore strange, manipulative relationships, and the psychology of obsession. The Bay of Foxes is also detailed and well written in a way that I find engaging even though there are no surprises. When Dawit speaks of M.’s work, he says he “does admire her spare, concentrated prose, her brief evocative novels” and I wondered if Kohler was using a description of her own work here; I’d say that’s an excellent way to describe my feelings about the two novels of hers that I’ve read so far.

Read the full review on my blog Violin in a Void

[Mike Bull · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up The Bay of Foxes from the Library because it looked exotic, set in Paris and Italy and about a writer and a young Ethiopian man.

I found the book a disappointment. Although there were flashes of interesting details about the young man Dawit's life growing up in Ethiopia, the main plot held far too little tension for me, and the one tense part of the book about two thirds of the way through soon gave way to an anticlimactic ending.

I felt that the other main character, the writer in the book, M., wasn't developed enough. There were references to her past as an author and early life in Africa herself, but these weren't emotional enough or fine grained enough to make a strong impact on the story.

I found myself wishing for a tense, melancholy finish, but instead this book seemed to end with a whimper. Yes, I read the entire book waiting for it to get better, but at a mere 200 pages it was a quick read.

[Laura Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was good and I like how the author puts her sentences together. The sentences seemed to have a passionate quality that escalated the passion going on in the plot. There was something missing but I can't quite decide what it is. However, I was compelled to continue reading. I was disappointed in the ending as it almost seemed the author just stopped because she was tired of writing this story. I understand that the reader is able to continue the story in their own minds with different scenarios and I think the author may have wanted that so the reader will continue to think about this book. I just like a more concrete ending and believe I would have still had many thoughts on the book when finished if that had been given to the reader. The book was a quick read and I finished it in a couple of hours. Overall I liked it but it isn't a book that I would tell everyone to run and get right away.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dawit is an Ethopian refugee, a member of an aristocratic family who flees from the revolution to Paris in the 1970s. There he meets M., a famous French writer whom he admires. M. is enthralled by Dawit’s handsome looks and personal story, and he reminds her of her youth spent in Africa. She invites him to come work for her, rescuing him from starvation in the city’s slums and giving him a room in her sprawling Parisian apartment. But she wants more from him than his memories of Africa and his company. She wants to possess him and, together, they go to her villa on the coast of Sardinia at the Bay of Foxes.There, Dawit finds his own love and turns the tables on his relationship with M.

Read my full review at TheCelebrityCafe.com

[ceeeeg · Rating 4 out of 5]

a haunting tale, told in an almost painfully elegant manner....the prose reads almost poetic and the story, while not gripping, nonetheless pulls you along...in my case, it was more the way she turns a phrase that captured me and kept me reading, for the pure joy of reveling in her way of weaving words in such a highly evocative manner, more than the overall content and character of the story, which was interesting if not overwhelmingly compelling...

due to the ending, which i found unsatisfying in terms of conflict resolution, i would give this one a 3 star rating, but the prose pushes it up to an enthusiastic 4 stars...if you are the kind of reader than can fall in love with the way words are used to evoke imagery and feeling, regardless of the plot or character development, this makes a very pleasureable read...

[willowdog]

Kohler owes much to Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. In Bay of Foxes, Dawit, a poor educated illegal immigrant from Ethopia after the falll of the Emperor finds himself in Paris and is befriended by M, a famous writer. He quickly becomes her in many ways and masters the art of deception. Both use each other, he for life; she for control, sex, and power--all to a evil end. Well written, interesting ending, but formatic and too similar to Highsmith. Gay relationships are the more successful ones (if you can call them successful.) Negative attitude toward all involved--the French, the revolutionaries, the Italians--all out for themselves.