
Andrew Beatty lived with his family for two & a half years in a village in East Java. When he arrived, he was entranced by a strange & sensual way of life, an unusual tolerance of diversity. Mysticism, Islamic piety & animism coexisted peacefully; the ancient traditions of the shadow play, of spirit beliefs & were-tigers seemed set to endure. Java appeared a model for our strife-ridden world, a recipe for multiculturalism. But a harsh & puritanical Islamism, fed by modern uncertainties, was driving young women to wear the veil & young men to renounce the old rituals. The mosque loudspeakers grew strident, cultural boundaries sharpened. As a wave of witch-killings shook the countryside, Beatty & his family began to feel like vulnerable outsiders. Set among Java's rice fields & volcanoes, this is the story of how one of the biggest issues of our time plays out in ordinary lives.