The Village in the Jungle

by Leonard Woolf

"The Village in the Jungle" by Leonard Woolf is a novel published in 1913, based on his experiences as a colonial administrator in British Ceylon. The story follows Silindu, a poor farmer in the village of Beddegama, and his two daughters as they struggle against poverty, disease, superstition, and an unsympathetic colonial system. Ground-breaking for being written from the native rather than colonial perspective, the novel depicts how the family confronts manipulation by village authorities that leads to tragedy and a murder trial.