Description

In the hot, rainy summer of 1955, Cambodia is in upheaval. The first democratic elections, just weeks away, will determine not only the future of a country, but the happiness of three people.
Sar is a quiet, serious schoolteacher, officially campaigning for the opposition, who is secretly working for an armed Communist takeover. Many years later, he will become known to the world as Pol Pot.
Somaly – young, fragile, beautiful – refuses to be tied down. She is the woman Sar loves, the woman for whom he is willing to sacrifice his most dearly held beliefs.
And Sary is the ruthless deputy prime minister – determined to keep the opposition from power by any means, and to make Somaly his lover.
Amidst the poverty and the cocktail parties, the silk dresses, the divided loyalties and betrayals, a love triangle unfolds which will decide the fate of a nation.

Publisher Review

Beautifully evocative...must-read novel Daily Mail Idling has climbed inside the mind of a tyrant, and it makes the blood run cold; this is also a wonderfully evocative picture of a chaotic country about to explode into war, where "torrential rain makes the street look as if the surface is coming to the boil". Brilliant The Times So assured it is hard to believe it is a debut ... [a] fine novel Sunday Telegraph It's rare to come across such a confident debut novel... [an] exceptional, vibrant and tense piece of historical fiction The Lady Add Song for an Approaching Storm by Peter Froberg Idling to your bookshelf. It's a tormented love story weaved inside a political thriller in south-east Asia - the language is like poetry Company I wonder if I've ever read a debut novel as good ... as in the fiction of Marguerite Duras and Graham Greene the tension between Power and Eros is hard as steel in [this] brilliant novel. SR Kulturnytt An impressive work of fiction, not just about a horrendous time but also about man's ability to be both victim and executioner Expressen An exciting and thought-provoking novel ... this year's best Norrkopings Tidningar An exquisite portrayal of complex emotion, of how people are shaped and coerced by their context. Overwhelming Arbetarbladet This is in the James Ellroy and Mario Vargas Llosa department! Peter Froberg Idling's political thriller is the same kind of feverish sweat-stained fiction/non-fiction ... a fully developed piece and cannot but be one of the finest literary debuts in decades, at least -- Boras Tidning The atmosphere he creates is mysterious and frightening; his prose is poetic and compact. Froberg has joined the best tradition of (neo-)colonial novels, with Marguerite Duras and Graham Greene as his predecessors -- Sofie Messeman Trouw Letter & Geest Froberg impresses with his analysis and atmosphere, fostering empathy, understanding and memory -- Alexander van Caeneghem De Standaard