With intense power and lyricism, the stories of Exile and the Kingdom evoke beautiful but harsh landscapes, from the shimmering deserts of Camus' native Algeria to the wild mysterious jungles of Brazil, exploring what it means not to belong.

Here a Frenchwoman is gradually seduced by the sensual energy of North Africa; a mutilated renegade is driven mad by the cruelty of his own people; a modest painter is out of his death in the hypocrisy of the art world; and an engineer discovers a new sense of purpose in a distant land.