Rebecca Laurelson has been working as a trauma surgeon in a field hospital in east Africa, a wartorn area. When she becomes exhausted and takes a month's leave, she goes to her aunt Julia's house on the coast of the Indian Ocean. A bigger contrast could not be imagined. From a fearful, food and medicine deprived area where terrorists could strike at any moment, Rebecca goes to a house of wealth and parties where anything one desired could be had at a moment's notice.

Rebecca and her mother had never been close so she has never met her aunt Julia and the family. Regardless, they open their house and welcome her. Julia is a bit scary with her parties and jewelry and sense of entitlement. Bill, her uncle, seems affable yet everyone is afraid of him. Her cousin Lucy doesn't have much time for Rebecca, off with her own friends on a daily round of shopping and fun. Storm, her other cousin, is a male with his own friends and pursuits such as surfing and fishing.

Yet the break is good for Rebecca. She has left the hospital exhausted. She has secrets of her own and needs time alone to integrate her past experiences. As time goes on and she is ready to reach out, she forms a relationship with Storm and unfortunately, it turns into an affair. But worse than that is happening. The terrorists are moving towards this rich enclave and the upcoming elections may bring more change than the white community is prepared for. When an attack happens, the secrets everyone are hiding emerge with their fallout.

This is the second book I've read by Jean McNeil. She describes the most horrifying scenarios matter of factly, only slowing revealing the secrets and horrors underneath a calm exterior. The characters are murky at first and only when Rebecca returns to the country two years later are all the secrets revealed. McNeil's writing is descriptive and the reader can picture the events vividly. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

Be patient with this one. Rebecca is visiting her aunt's home in Tanzania after working as a field surgeon. It's more of a character study than a plot driven novel and there are some lovely scenes of Africa.

A great premise but a slow read.

'm afraid this was not for me. After giving up and then returning a week later, I still could not get into it. The descriptive prose was a bit too flowery, and the characters a bit too flat, and it did not appeal.

A preview copy was provided by the publisher.

Rebecca Laurelson is an English trauma surgeon working in a field hospital in east Africa, but she needed to leave. A vacation – of sorts. At the hospital, she’s seen it all, and perhaps there is a time when one has seen too much, endured too much of the worst that can happen.

And so Rebecca finds herself swept into the home of her Aunt Julia, her mother’s sister, and Uncle, their son Storm, and eventually their daughter. Her Aunt Julia’s family lives in Tanzania, at Kilindoni on the Indian Ocean. Her Uncle Bill’s father built this house, the first to be built on that part of the coast. A gracious home in a lovely setting, their family is living a very comfortable life. A home made for parties and celebrations. A lifestyle Rebecca could become accustomed to, but her mind is elsewhere, focused on other things, other times, other people. Having worked in a more dangerous environment, Rebecca finds herself reflecting on the things she’s witnessed, the trauma she’s encountered, and the danger that still lurks out there. She isn’t prepared to share all of her knowledge with her Aunt Julia’s family.

And while that danger is never far from her thoughts, this novel weaves that in throughout this story, it is also rich with lovely prose describing the land, the ocean, the wildlife, the birds, the sunrises and sunsets, the night sky. The birds, especially, are prominently featured; their names head each section, beginning with the Amani Sunbird – some are endangered species. Blackbellied Bustard. Redchested Cuckoo. Amur Falcon. Nubian Nightjar. Augur Buzzard. Harlaub’s Turaco. African Sacred Ibis. Northern Carmine Bee-Eater – a spectacular sight to see.

Rebecca is drawn to her younger cousin, Storm. They become close. Closer than most cousins are. Their time together becomes fraught with risk – as if their lives aren’t already risky enough with the political unrest, the threat of terrorism ever-present. But when one is surrounded by the finer things of life, it skews the view. Hard to believe it will ever touch their lives.

The settings and the wildlife steal the show in this story, with characters feeling more as though they represent something, lust featuring heavily in the relationship with Rebecca and Storm, and also in the lust for more, better, best, in the rather hedonistic lifestyle of Rebecca’s aunt and uncle. Power and possibly corruption featured in the lifestyle and attitudes of the aunt and uncle, as well as the government.

Rebecca is really the character that this story revolves around, and Rebecca is a little detached. It’s clear she’s undergone some trauma, and her thinking may be somewhat compromised due to that, but she’s not really unlikeable. Unrelatable, perhaps, to some, maybe not to those who’ve endured the traumas of living in a war-torn area, or who endured their own private war. Who’s to say what makes a person retreat into their safety bubble?


Pub Date: 11 Apr 2017


Many thanks for the ARC provided by ECW Press