Spirits of the Sun by Sydney Philippe

Ravenous animals aren’t the biggest danger in the jungle – it’s the humans you must watch out for – in Philippe’s gorgeously descriptive work about murder, love, and lust between two ancient tribes, Spirits of the Sun. When the chief of the Java tribe declares his desire to marry a much younger woman from the Malay tribe, the Malay reject the proposal, and a callous killing complicates matters further. Meanwhile, a developing relationship between a young Malay man and a banished Java woman spells trouble for both groups. Some of the novel’s crueler scenes of violence are difficult to read, but they are a realistic reflection and never gratuitous, and seeing certain tribe members reconcile their differences and assist one another is emotionally cathartic, in this complex but page-turning work of historical fiction.