Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166352 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Customer Reviews

A Memoir that Beguiles
Aminatta Forna's memoir is more than just an autobiography. It is simultaneously a poignant and moving true tale of her family's past and also an empassioned account of modern West African political history.
Aminatta is the youngest of three children of a father from Sierra Leone who trained in medicine in Aberdeen, Scotland, and a Scottish mother. Her story takes in the movements of her family from her birth in Aberdeen and the family's move to Sierra Leone, and works through the developments when her father, a dedicated and altrusitic doctor, is drawn into the political process in an attempt to bring democracy to his country, which has moved from colonialism to uni-party politics from autocrats and dictators. The desperate corruption of despots and the quashing of political dissent are drawn with shocking candour and palpable emotion.
Along the way, Forna paints a vivid picture of a vast continent teeming with beautiful natural life - barren, dust-laden expanses of land, rural Africans living a life similar to that led by their ancestors centuries ago, and wildlife such as ants and snakes teeming across the dry parched land. She paints fascinating pictures of rural village life and ancient traditions such as chieftancy elections and the hierarchies of multiple wives.
Forna writes well and expresses with potency the feelings and thoughts of a young girl watching her father. There are funny anecdotes from her youth as well as moving and traumatic ones, and she captures the innocence of childhood with ease.
The stories from the days when her father practised medicine for long hours in his clinic are fascinating because of the contrast with our own western practice, and his dedication to helping others comes through clearly.
The passages dealing with the life Forna's parents led in Aberdeen before moving to Sierra Leone have echoes of Andrea Levy's Small Island, with the same shaming examples of racism and ignorance such as No Blacks notices up in rooms up for rent. Yet, as with Levy, this is expressed without rancour or bitterness and balanced by accounts of others who greeted them with affection and tolerance.
This must have been a difficult book to write as re-living some of the dreadful tragedies must have been harrowing. But Forna manages to keep the mood from becoming maudlin, interspersing the grittier tales with sweet stories from her youth. An excellent example of the political made personal, this book is a must for anyone wanting to learn more about recent African history.



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A true Child of My time
Reading this book made me cry because my Dad was also arrested at that time but was released without charge because he was away at the said date of the said meeting.

I applaud you Aminatta because of your courage,love and undeniable strength of spirit in writing this book. It is a vivid account of the modern face/history of Sierra Leone from our own perspective. I mean a Sierra Leonean perpective, because we've lived it, felt all the pain and anguish of the Sierra Leone of today founded on the grounds of coruption, deceit, selfishness and thirst for absolute power, incepted by Siaka Stevens and Co.

I am still hopeful for the best. S.Leone will one day be a place of peace as She once was. Aminatta, despite all that has happened we are still poducts of this beautiful country I therefore see it as a special mission to help the people develop in a positive way,in a non-political contribution. Many thanks.

Read, learn and move forward toward peace.
I first decided to read this book after meeting with refugees from Sierra Leone who are now living in The Gambia. This story gave me another insight to the plight of those without a country,home or family to return too.

The writing of Aminata gave me the story that I had heard from the lips of refugees, along with more knowledge about the conflict, horror and betrayal that surrounded alot of people.

I have gained so much from this book that it has inspired me to read more about this country in the hope that they find the peace and country that most of the Sierra Leoneans want and need. The refugees that I have met all want to return to their motherland but still do not believe that it is safe to do so. They have lost touch with loved ones for many years and most of them do not have the monies or wherewithall to begin their search. Aminata tells of the length of time one must spend waiting for people to give them the information needed to find out important information about their families history, I now, from the strength of this one woman intend to try to help others find their own families.