Description: Written when he returned from his 1953 safari, Ernest Hemingway's long-awaited last posthumous work, edited by his son Patrick, will be published in celebration of the legendary writer's centennial anniversary. A blend of autobiography and fiction, True at First Light offers last-chance insights into the man behind such classics as The Sun Also Rises and Green Hills of Africa, as he becomes more and more enchanted by the local African culture.

The book opens on the day his close friend, Pop, a legendary hunter, leaves Hemingway in charge of the camp and news arrives of a potential attack from a hostile tribe. Drama continues to build as his wife, Mary, pursues the great lion she is determined to kill. Meanwhile Hemingway is torn between the rituals of his camp and life in the neighboring village, home to the character Debba, an African girl whom he supposedly plans to take as a second bride. In the ensuing tale, Hemingway chronicles his exploits among the African men with whom he has become very close, reminisces about writing and his days in Paris and Spain, and satirizes, among other things, the role of organized religion in Africa. Equally adept at evoking the singular textures of the landscape, the thrill of the hunt, and the complexities of married life, Hemingway weaves a tale that is rich in laughter, beauty, arid profound insight.

True at First Light is an extraordinary publishing event -- a breathtaking final work from one of this nation's most beloved and important writers.

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