Francesca

Available now on Amazon and on BookDepository.com (free worldwide delivery)

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9926552-3-5 / E-book ASIN: B00HF68DN8

It’s December 1975, and seventeen-year-old Francesca is about to find out if that which does not kill her will make her strong. Caught in the crossfire of the Indonesian army’s brutal invasion of East Timor, she escapes with her life and little else.

Arriving on the shores of Indonesian Borneo, she finds herself thrust into an ersatz American small town carved out of the jungle by Constar Oil of Texas.

Interwoven in Francesca’s journey are a cast of vividly drawn characters – the bored expat brat who befriends her, a divorced fundamentalist missionary bringing Christ to the jungle via Oklahoma, the inept son of a murdered socialist martyr, a former Vietnam War helicopter pilot, an amah who supplements her income turning tricks… Watching over them all is the menacing former Colonel Benny Surikano, Constar’s Mr. Fixit to whom everyone turns when they need something.

Set against a backdrop of endemic political corruption, moral compromise and the pursuit of oil, Francesca is a passionate story of one woman’s struggle against overwhelming odds to shape the country that nearly destroyed her.

Read an excerpt from Francesca

About Donald Finnaeus Mayo

Read an interview with the author: “Donald Finnaeus Mayo about journalism, modern history and inspiration” (Part I and Part II)

“Perhaps reading it prior to going to bed is not advisable as one might end up staying up rather later than one intends and arrive at work blurry eyed the next day.” —Establishment Post, Singapore

“A full-bodied tale of love and war set against the complex political and commercial landscape of Indonesia in the 70s. It’s a moving and sensitively written story that draws you in from the start.” —Amazon.co.uk, Readers’ reviews