"... This then, was the arena, and as if in agreement with what was taking place below, the gargoyle tops of the willows tittered with grim spectators - and the trees, bending their cliff faces away from the pond, turned into ravines studded with eyes. He stepped into something unexpectedly soft, and unexpectedly warm ..."This novel tells the tale of an enigmatic Valkyrie type, a strongman hermit, and a melancholic, broad-shouldered snob, all surreptitiously vying for power over a tropical, post-colonial town and its hinterland. Unravelling across three temporal layers: mid 19th, mid 20th, and late 20th century, this story, verging on the fantastic, is about ruthless trickery, extreme violence, and a commentary and meditation on the dark side of the dark side of human nature.Great caution is needed whenever female tarantulas, more powerful than the males of the species, are approached, if the supplicant is not to be killed and eaten. Added to this, Old Mother Tarantula has a system of tripping wires and nets spun across the world of her domain by which every movement is detected. Meaning: Everything is inescapably under her influence and happens because she wants it to happen.