''In Search of a Character: Two African Journals'' is a slim volume, part travel book, part novelist’s journal, written by English author

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

and first published in 1961. Greene set two of his novels in Africa; ''

A Burnt-Out Case ''A Burnt-Out Case'' (1960) is a novel by English author Graham Greene, set in a leper colony on the upper reaches of a tributary of the Congo River in Africa. Plot summary Querry, a famous architect who is fed up with his celebrity, no longe ...

'', set in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, and ''

The Heart of the Matter ''The Heart of the Matter'' (1948) is a novel by English author Graham Greene. The book details a life-changing moral crisis for Henry Scobie. Greene, a former British intelligence officer in Freetown, British Sierra Leone, drew on his expe ...

'', set in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. This book contains the journals, not originally intended for publication, that Greene kept on journeys he made for research purposes before writing those two novels. The first part, Convoy to West Africa, covers his journey to Sierra Leone in 1941. The second part, Congo Journal, mainly deals with his journey to the Belgian Congo in 1959 and the people he meets along the way. He made the latter trip with the story of his 1960 novel ''A Burnt-Out Case'' already partly written, and it is apparent he is searching for characters to populate that story. Greene fans often find this work interesting as a glimpse into the mind of the writer and of the man.

References

1961 non-fiction books Books by Graham Greene British travel books The Bodley Head books Books about Africa Books about writing English non-fiction books African travel books {{africa-studies-stub