In the Green Heart: the gripping novel of family and resistance from the award-winning journalist

by Richard Lloyd Parry

A father is stranded with his baby daughter as violence breaks out in the jungle, in this page-turning and explosive new novel

'Brilliant, harrowing and heartbreaking, yet utterly compelling' David Peace

Deep in a vast tropical rain forest, Kit and Lara escape the hollowness of modern life doing charitable work in a jungle village. With them is their tiny baby, Helen, who flourishes under the anxious care of her father.

Their life of idyllic isolation is shattered by the arrival of an outsider with frightening close at hand, across the border, violence is looming. Hidden in a tiny memory card, Kit unwittingly holds evidence of the world-shattering event that is unfolding, the desperate power-play of a flailing superpower.

Separated from Lara, with war erupting around them, Helen and Kit are forced to flee through the forest with a band of local children, pursued by a ruthless and determined army. Caught between the struggle of rival powers, Kit must keep his baby daughter alive while protecting the secret that his pursuers will kill to get their hands on.

'Immersive and immensely readable, never not terrifying' Richard Beard

Praise for the award-winning Ghosts of the Tsunami:

'A book of absolute, harrowing truth and beauty. I'd give up four of my novels to have written this book' Jim Crace, author of Harvest

'Every time I think of it, I'm filled with wonderment... A future classic' Observer

'A remarkable and deeply moving book' Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm

Genres: Fiction

283 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 14, 2025

About the author

Richard Lloyd Parry was born in north-west England, and has lived since 1995 in Tokyo, where he is the Asia Editor of The Times newspaper of London. He has reported from twenty-eight countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq and North Korea. In 2005, he was named the UK's foreign correspondent of the year. He has also written for Granta, the New York Times and the London Review of Books.

Reviews

[Eric Olsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, evocative and harrowing.

This is a story of one father’s (Kit) love for his daughter (Helen) that is put to the ultimate test as sudden violence breaks out in the village he and his wife (Lara) relocated to so they can escape the mundane normalcy of modern life.

Kit and Lara are separated moments before violence befalls their new home, and Kit must use every ounce of his will, determination and intellect to escape the attack and save his daughter. In the fog of battle, Kit gains possession of a precious memory card that holds all of the visual evidence of this earth-shattering event that the attacking military will stop at nothing to get their hands on.

This story is replete with commentary on parenthood, patriotism and the rampant misinformation that’s beginning to define our society.

Richard Lloyd Perry’s vivid descriptions of nature and the ineffable power of human will are a welcome compliment to the excellent plot he devised for this novel. His prose is infectious and will have you cancelling your weekend plans to stay in and finish this captivating book.

The final 80-100 pages are some of the finest storytelling I’ve ever read. This was an easy 5/5 for me and I hope everyone takes a moment to read this terrific piece of art.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really liked this. It’s been a while since I had to sit down for several hours and ignore all of my responsibilities to finish a book.

This takes place in an unnamed country on an unnamed continent, but looking at the setting and the political situation, to me it seemed to be an overthrow of Lumumba in the Congo type situation transposed into the present day.
Main character Kit lives in an isolated jungle village with his baby daughter and aid worker wife Lara when a veteran war journalist turns up and tells them they are about to be invaded by the neighbouring country, which is being supported by “the Superpower” (clearly the US). Kit refuses to believe this, but after his wife leaves to deliver medicine to another village, war really does break out and the village is brutally destroyed. Kit is forced to flee into the jungle, baby in tow, with only one surviving man and a few children from the village as company. Every time I thought their situation couldn’t get any worse, something even more tragic happens, until he is forced to give up his daughter and the journalist’s proof of the atrocities for safekeeping and is captured by “the Superpower’s” forces, who obviously aren’t even supposed to be out there invading a random country.

Apart from the fast pace of the action, I thought this book had a lot of interesting subtle things to say about gender dynamics (Kit takes a stereotypical mother role while the baby’s actual mother is much more gung-ho and seemingly less interested in traditional family life and he even accidentally speaks the local language in the female form, which the locals find hilarious), the realities of war in (for us in the West) faraway places, the still prevailing racist stereotypes about “less civilised” peoples, and how regular people deal with being thrust into extreme situations.

I was frustrated with Kit at times - he is too passive and naive, makes stupid mistakes that cost other people’s lives, so hyper-focused on his own daughter that he kinda just leaves the traumatised orphaned village children to basically fend for themselves - but it was a very human portrayal of a flawed person who never wanted to be anyone’s hero to begin with.
I would’ve liked it if the pages he spends being tortured for information by soldiers of “the Superpower” had been cut down in favour of more time in the village and the jungle, but this is a short book to begin with so at least that part didn’t drag, and I liked it so much overall that it didn’t change my opinion of the book overall. I’m glad I read it and the tragedy of the story will probably stick in my mind for a good while.

[Claudia Farrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this is TIGHT. Incredible writing by Richard Lloyd Parry. Stunningly done to convey the very important message that this could and is right now, 20 years ago, 50 years ago, hundreds of years ago…and in too many places in the world than we should be willing to accept.

Gripping from start to finish. Had a few moments that made me feel sick and had to take a break - but eager to get back into it once I could stomach some more.

Brilliant - dare I say mandatory reading????

[Leaburn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A big fan of the author’s non-fiction, this debut novel was unimpressive. The descriptive linguistic powers are there but the plot and character depth are seriously lacking. The politics is uni level angst ridden drivel. Everything hits you in the face like a frying pan, rather than having any nuance or thoughtfulness. Sorry, I really wanted to enjoy the book but I was very surprised by how bad it was. I’ll pick up the next non-fiction effort but will leave any future novels to one side.

[paula walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this book down and read in one day

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Flew through this book in two days. Compelling and different and yet… the ending, couldn’t make it impactful in my head.

[Ralph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and intriguing but the ending rather fizzles out and this is certainly not a cheerful read.