 Although The Viceroy of Ouidah received good reviews , it did not sell well . Nicholas Shakespeare said that the dismal sales caused Chatwin to pursue a completely different subject for his next book . In response to his growing reputation as a travel writer Chatwin said he " decided to write something about people who never went out . " His next book , On the Black Hill ( 1982 ) , is a novel of twin brothers who live all of their lives in a farmhouse on the Welsh borders . For this book Chatwin won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Whitbread Prize for Best First Novel , even though he considered his previous book , The Viceroy of Ouidah , a novel . It was made into a film in 1987 . 
