BEYOND THE DOOR OF NO RETURN

Paris, 1806. The renowned botanist Michel Adanson is dying. His last word is a woman's name: Maram.

But who was she?

Searching for the answer, Adanson's daughter discovers a journal of his youthful travels in Senegal, which tells a story of wild adventure and impossible desires. It reveals how he heard of a young woman sold into slavery who did the impossible and returned. How he became obsessed with finding her, whatever the cost.

And how a man who longed to solve the mysteries of natural instead found himself grappling with the impulses of the heart.