Michael Ondaatje’s stunning novel takes place during the final moments of the Second World War. It explores the lives of four people who come together in a damaged villa in Tuscany as the war retreats around a young Canadian nurse; an enigmatic thief whose skills have made him one of the war’s heroes as well as one of its casualties; a Sikh soldier in the British army; and the English patient, who lies badly burned in an upstairs room. It is his adventures and turbulent love affair in the North African desert before the war, gradually uncovered, that become the centre around which these people’s past and present lives unfold.

Set mainly in Italy, this is a breathtaking story of love and passion that arcs back in time to Canada, to London during the Blitz and the intricacies of bomb disposal, and to the mysterious, often dangerous world of desert exploration.

Michael Ondaatje brings his formidable poetic and narrative powers to bear on the destiny of his characters. In luminous prose, he reveals the complex impact of public conflict on private lives.

邁剋爾•翁達傑（Michael Ondaatje，1943-）加拿大小說傢、詩人。齣生於斯裏蘭卡，11歲時隨母親來到英國，19歲移居加拿大，接受高等教育。到目前為止，翁達傑共齣版6部長篇小說、10餘部詩集和其他一些非虛構作品。1992年齣版的《英國病人》獲得英國布剋奬和加拿大總督奬，根據小說改編的同名電影大獲成功。2007年齣版的小說《遙望》獲得總督奬。翁達傑的小說，融閤瞭爵士樂的節奏、電影的濛太奇手法，語言深刻而優美。