The story is initially about a man, who feels like a part of him is dying and he feels himself disappearing in his life. This man, Adrian, decides to go to Sierra Leone soon after its civil war end to “help” broken people get restored. He meet’s a man who is about to die, Elias Cole, who wants to share his life story but is really looking for redemption. Then Adrian befriends a young local doctor named Kai, who has been greatly affected by the war and harbours a secret which has caused him to lose the great love of his love.
Adrian falls in love with a local woman and somehow in her he finds hope and falls in love with war-torn Sierra Leone.
The story has a lot of twists and turns and is a beautifully written story. However, some parts of it are forced and there are too many coincidences. It is bleak and humourless. What humour is in the book is slightly forced. I feel where Aminatta Forna could have left me, the reader, to assume some things she explains them.
I particularly found the end of the book interesting. By the end of the book, what I would have thought was Adrian’s story becomes Kai’s story. I suppose what really confused me was whose journey was she writing.
The book was a slow read. It isn’t a high paced, can’t put down book. It’s written to evoke emotion and thought and therefore you can’t speed through it.
Overall, it was a good book and is definitely on my recommended summer reading list, and if you belong to a book club then this will be a good pick.
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