This meticulously researched, fictionalized account of well-known American writers Paul and Jane Bowles peeks behind the curtain of their expatriate life in 1940s Morocco.

In self-imposed exile and free from the moralistic constraints of the West, Paul and Jane wrote, fought, and loved feverishly, both each other and others of all sexes. The passion, envy, and exuberance that defined their unconventional marriage thrived in sharp contrast to a country straining for independence under the thumb of its colonial keepers.

Told by Paul, Jane, and Belaquassim, Paul’s young Moroccan lover, In Tangier, We Killed the Blue Parrot is a study of contrasts—in the exotic, the erotic, the political, and the creative life.