Talk Back

[Eisworth]

This is a novel about Africa. Not the romanticized Africa of "Henderson the Rain King" or the stylized Africa of "Heart of Darkness", but Africa as it has truly been since the end of colonialism. It is the story of Salim, a member of the substantial Indian population of East Africa, and his attempt to simply live life after the European administration left.

We aren't told which country this is taking place in, though it is pretty clearly modeled on Uganda under Idi Amin. I found the book disturbing in a sense, because it clearly delineated how different life is in other parts of the world. So different that I cannot even begin to fathom how I would react to some of the situations.
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Todd Eisworth
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Ohio University