Return to Clay - A Romance of Colonial Cambodia

Claude, however, gradually embraces the natural beauty, values and purity of the gentle kingdom. Then he meets Kamlang, a native girl with whom he forges “a relationship unlike any he had ever imagined, or could imagine, while still bound by his Western values.” His decisions result in anguish, betrayal, violence and – ultimately – epiphany.

George Groslier – one of the greatest witnesses of colonial Cambodia – won the 1929 Grand Prix de Littérature Coloniale for his tour de force novel, presented here in English for the first time, with the complete original French text. 

About the author:

George Groslier (1887-1945), historian,curator and author wasthe motivating force behind much of the revivalof interest in traditional Cambodian arts and crafts. He dedicated his life and career to Cambodia, accumulating many titles and honors along the way. He was a champion of the arts, a man of science, photographer and painter,a novelist and writer, and an ethnologist who infused all of his works with passion and sensitivity.

Groslier was born in Cambodia on February 4, 1887. He died in Cambodia, the country he loved, under torture as a Japanese prisoner on June 18, 1945. His genius lives on through his works. Read More >