Philippe Claudel is a novelist and academic, a prizewinning film director and screenplay writer. On returning from a trip to Indonesia, where he is intrigued by the Toraja custom of “embalming” dead children in tree trunks, Claudel finds a dear friend and colleague dying of cancer. In The Tree of the Toraja (MacLehose Press, £14.99; Tablet price £13.49) he accompanies Eugène on his final journey. Part rumination on dying, part reflection on life ongoing, an altogether tender and philosophical farewell.