I love the concept, but was disappointed. The reader was fine. I found the writing heavy handed and contrived.. Thanks Netgalley for the audio copy,

I really enjoyed Place of Cool Waters, a novel set between the USA and Kenya, and navigates the topics of family, race and racism, and grief.

The book begins with the very separate lives of Jude - an adoptee living in Washington state - and Qadir - a Somali refugee who lives in Nairobi - and covers their lives until they meet in a Nairobi hostel. The trigger for Jude wanting to explore Kenya is the death of his close friend, who contracts Stage 4 cancer and comments to Jude that he always thought that he had time for things that now he will never be able to do.

I enjoyed the background to both their lives and how they eventually come together. Both men have to deal with racism in their respective countries, and it was interesting (and frustrating) to read about what they both had to deal with.

Once their stories intertwined, the book really got going and I found the faster pace very enjoyable and sped through the last half. I do wish that there had been more from Qadir’s viewpoint during the last few chapters as I missed his side of things, particularly during the parts set in the hostel.

The narrator was excellent and I found his voice very pleasant. The Swahili words used were well explained, and I enjoyed the inclusion of the local language!

So without realising it until after the fact, thus is actually the third novel by this author I've listened to.

As usual the narrator has a calm, measured for and is easy to listen to. The story does get a little farfetched at times but is otherwise an interesting look at what home and family means. It also sounds a salutary note to do things when we want rather than keep putting it off as we may not be given the time or ability to do things we want in later years.

Jude and Qadir are two young men living very different lives - Jude in Washington and Qadir in Kenya. However after a tragedy Jude decides to visit the grave of a hero (Baden-Powell) in Kenya where the two meet.

Jude's life takes some very startling turns but as all this happens in the second half of the book you do get a good amount of background about the two boys first.

A pleasant enough read but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as either Ten Thousand Rocks or People of Ostrich Mountain.

4 stars

What a wonderful story full of coincidences, both happy and sad! I haven’t read much about Kenya, so it was also fun to learn about the country by proxy of Jude’s travels. I highly recommend this short novel.

[What I liked:]

•Jude, his family, his best friend in his hometown, & the many wonderful people he meets on his travels were all great characters. Even the minor characters have interesting facets we get to learn about.

•I nearly cried at the ending, it was so touching. Jude had some really bad luck, but it also led to him finding some truly amazing people & experiences.

•The prose is simple & straightforward & allowed me to really focus on the storytelling, which is detailed & carefully crafted but never overwhelming with superfluous information or flowery words.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•There are some rather big coincidences that some readers may find contrived; I didn’t mind, however, because they aren’t slapdash coincidences but carefully constructed & foreshadowed. Ymmv though.

CW: racism, mentions of ethnic violence/murder/terrorism

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

A story about two boys one in Kenya and one in US, living very separate and different lives. The American lad loses a friend to cancer and so decides that life is very short and to start his bucket list, first stop Kenya and to visit the birthplace of Baden Powell the leader of the scouting movement. From there his adventure starts. The story of the life of the other boy in Kenya is interwoven and finally they meet up. Lovely read, not too long so got through it in two days. Wonderful description of Kenya and Nairobi, very authentic and true to life. Narration was very clear with Swahili phases and words beautifully spoken. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.