Guilt, Hallucinogenic Drugs, and Rainforest Ghosts

We’re deep inside a rainforest somewhere near the border of Mexico and Guatemala, 1972. Simon Corbet, a 42-year-old entomologist with a passion for mantids, has been drawn here. Or is he running away? Running from grief, uncertainty, and a guilt he doesn't understand. Simon is haunted, both figuratively and literally, by the ghost of Penelope, a young woman who tragically died. Michelle Paver's Rainforest was hot off the press right at the end of 2025. We talk about where it lies in her oeuvre.