Rupert Thompson : Divided Kingdom

'When someone writes as well as Thomson does, it makes
you wonder why other people bother.

It is winter, somewhere in the United Kingdom, and an eight year-old
boy is removed from his home in the middle of the night. He soon
learns that he is the victim of an extraordinary experiment.

In an attempt to reform society, the government has divided the
population into four groups, each group representing a different
personality type. The land, too, has been divided into quarters.
Borders have been established, reinforced by concrete walls, armed
guards and rolls of razor wire.

Those who are most favoured are deemed SANGUINE, their dominant humour
being blood. They are optimistic, even tempered and constructive, and
must reside in the Red Quarter, whose capital is Pneuma.

Those who are empathetic, passive and indecisive are categorised as
PHLEGMATIC. They reside in the Blue Quarter, whose capital is
Aquaville.

Aggressive, impulsive people and those prone to excess are deemed
CHOLERIC, their dominant humour is yellow bile. Cholerics reside in
the Yellow Quarter, whose capital is Thermopolis

Finally, the MELANCHOLICS, dominated by black bile, are characterised
by introspection, pessimism, and an inclination towards the
intellectual. Melancholics reside in the Green Quarter, whose capital
is Cledge.

Plunged headlong into this brave new world, the boy tries to make the
best of things, unaware that ahead of him lies a truly explosive
moment, a revelation that will challenge everything he believes in and
will, in the end, put his very life in jeopardy...