Synopsis
In the parliament square of a country listlessly crumbling under the immovable yoke of a malign administration, baked in poverty and a relentless tropical sun, a young woman, exiled from the land of her birth, climbs onto a gilded statue of the benighted country’s immovable dictator to make a futile protest. She is immediately arrested and the only reason she isn’t shot, is due to the intervention of a minister in the dictator’s government.
The young woman is Ella, ejected from the beloved country of her birth when her families land was seized. Her saviour is Amina, the mother of her closest childhood friend. Amina’s instinctive intervention places her in considerable personal danger though, when guided by filial love she appeals for clemency from the ever paranoid President, an elderly man, isolated from his people in a grand palace and haunted by the ghost of a former political partner he is widely believed to have had killed.
An increasingly surreal and satirical dialogue ensues, between Ella, the President and the foul mouthed and remorselessly disparaging spectre that only he can see and hear, which as it touches on power, corruption and lost morality, inexorably destroys all involved.
These reviews have been published by readers on Amazon.
‘This is a brilliant novel with wonderfully written characters. You quickly get whisked away into the crazy world of a dictatorship. I love a book where you start reading and lose yourself in the pages – this is one of those books. A well-written, entertaining and insightful little slice of magic realism!’ Moe
When I started reading this, I thought it was going to be a straightforward tale about post-colonial political unrest and corruption but, not far into the book, the plot took an unexpected twist and several more followed that kept me gripped. This would make a great play — the story is intense but not overwhelming and the characters are carefully and cleverly drawn. This is the author’s first book — I’ve seen and enjoyed some of his TV work (as a Director), which ranges from award-winning children’s television to costume drama — so I hope he seriously considers writing more books.’ Innes