Ghana Must Go

Finished July 6
Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi

This first novel is mesmerizing, and I found it hard to put down. Kweku Sai has died suddenly in his home in Accra, Ghana. Unbeknownst to him, his ex-wife Fola is also living in Accra. With his death his four children come to join their mother in Accra and as they do reveal the stories of his leaving them and the family fallout from that leaving.
This is a story of love, of betrayal, of belonging and not belonging.
The oldest son Olu has become a doctor like his father, a surgeon, and has married Ling, also a doctor. But he has struggles with love and belonging, never feeling good enough.
The twins Taiwo and Kehinde have always been close, but grew apart as they got older. Each has struggled with their otherness, and with the terrible experience they went through together shortly after their father's death. This experience has not only come between them, but also has separated them from those around them.
The youngest Sadie is the most physically like their father and she does not see her own beauty, but only her otherness. She is not who she wants to be. It will take this visit to Ghana and the death of her father to bring her the insight to see who she is and come to terms with it.
Fola herself has her own history of leavings, a history beginning with her mother, followed by her father. She is a confident woman, but the leavings are a weakness and she has not coped well with Kweku's abandonment of his family.
So this is a story of loss, but also of discovery. A story of endings, but also new beginnings. A story that will tug on your heart and make you think about the way we think of ourselves and the relationships we have. About how vulnerability is difficult, but how allowing ourselves to be vulnerable can also bring us love.
Highly recommended.

Sweetness from Ashes

Finished January 5
Sweetness from Ashes by Marlyn Horsdal

This novel is set in Vancouver, Ottawa, and a farm near Ottawa, with some historical references to life decades earlier in Ghana. Jenny, Chris and Sheila are tasked in Pat's will to go back to the family farm near Ottawa to bury Pat's ashes there. Pat was estranged from the rest of the family, but we don't actually find out why until we get into the novel a little ways.
Sheila is reluctant to open that door to the past, afraid of what she might discover and afraid of what other closed doors it may lead to.
Jenny is the will's executor and more curious about the past rift in the family, although even she is surprised at how it affects her future.
Chris is less intimately concerned with this lost past as he has no blood ties to that side of the family, but he finds that some of the new knowledge he gains draws him strongly and changes the course of his life significantly.
Meanwhile, an older woman reflects on her life as she reads over her late husband's memoirs and prepares to take them to be published. As the two stories draw together, she finds herself newly invigorated and moving forward with her own life.
An interesting tale of families, prejudice, and paternalism.

Great New Mystery

Finished August 14
Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey
Read a good review of this book and that, combined with the fact that one of my uncles spent two years in Ghana with CUSO, let me to read the book.
I was not disappointed. The main character is a policeman with the CID in Accra, the capital. His name is Darko Dawson and he has some interesting skills, as well as some weaknesses that he must deal with.
Darko is haunted by the disappearance of his mother, which happened when he was twelve, who went to visit her family village and never returned home. When he is assigned the investigation of a murder in that same village, he vows to look for clues as to what happened to her while he is there.
The case he has been assigned is the murder of a young woman who was volunteering doing AIDS education while studying to be a doctor. He encounters a local fetish priest with his many wives, a local healer, and of course his own relatives.
Darko questions his own actions and regrets some of his rash moves, but he does have a good instinct for knowing when someone is lying and it is this that serves him well. He is a good observer of human behaviour and it is this skill that makes him a good policeman.
This is definitely a winner and I will be recommending it to patrons looking for new mystery writers.