Island of Demons

Anybody who has travelled to Bali will be familiar with Balinese-style paintings and the famous Ramayana Monkey dance. In fact both of these art forms were developed by Bali's most famous expat resident: Walter Spies. In the 1920s and 30s, Walter Spies – ethnographer, choreographer, film maker, natural historian and painter – transformed the perception of Bali from that of a remote island to become the site for Western fantasies about Paradise and it underwent an influx of foreign visitors. The rich and famous flocked to Spies house in Ubud and his life and work forged a link between serious academics and the visionaries from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Charlie Chaplin, Noel Coward, Miguel Covarrubias, Vicki Baum, Barbara Hutton and many others sought to experience the vision Spies offered while Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, the foremost anthropologists of their day, attempted to capture the secret of this tantalising and enigmatic culture. Island of Demons is a fascinating and humorous historical novel about the flamboyant and homosexual life of Walter Spies in Bali.