Map Monday – The Rainforest by Michelle Paver

Submitted: 13th October 2025

The Rainforest – South America awaits

This week we’re heading across to Mexico, Chiapas and the rainforest there….Where the jungle is no Eden….where the line between the living and the dead is thinner than the skin of water…..

The book:

Book map for The Rainforest

The location:

They arrive in San Cristobal, and immediately the adventure begins. The next location is Piedras Quemadas Camp which sits on a tributary of Rio Lacantun in Chiapas:

Chiapas

Dr Simon Corbett is there to study insects, mantids in particular, and has to deal with the jungle’s vastness, remoteness and utter darkness. There are biting insects, noises he can’t explain and a darkness and a sense of danger that he had not expected. We do not know what he will do or see next. The reader is in just as much darkness as the doctor himself….and the sense of foreboding is strong…..

The setting

Talk about atmospheric:

“Night has fallen with brutal suddenness and moths are circling the lightbulb hanging from the rafter; they keep cutting across my light. I’m breathing in swampy heat and a rank sweetness of rotting vegetation, in my ears the rhythmic rasp of billions of insects.”

What are the themes of the novel?

Buckle up – there’s obsession, paranoia, nature, loneliness, a mental health and societal expectations for starters…

Book map for The Rainforest

Key quote:

“In that way, animals are like people. They know when they’re being watched.”

BookTrail Map Monday

BookTrail Review

Oh this was creepy! A short read and very quick as you want to see if you and the doctor are going to survive the jungle to be fair. From the insects to the weird noises, I know I would not be brave enough to go here in real life. I probably shouldn’t have entrusted my literary life to a doctor who studies bugs but there you go – it was quite the adventure!

This is a novel with so many ingredients that will mean something different to every reader. It’s all a bit odd but compelling. It’s dark but you can’t stop wandering further into the shadows. The author note shed a whole new light on what I had just read. Michelle – I take my hat off to you. That level of research is outstanding. The Bear Grylls of the literary world – Ms Paver has given readers a VERY interesting take on a jungle exploration.