THE GHOSTS OF EDEN
By Andrew J.H. Sharp
Picnic Publishing. 370 pages. £10.00
ISBN 978-0-95586-133-8
In this novel, Andrew Sharp is a grown up ‘Miss-kid’; he works as a GP in Leicester and comes from an illustrious line of (mostly medical) missionaries. He was brought up in Uganda where his parents established a hospital before Idi Amin’s rise to power. It’s no wonder then, that the protagonist of this, his first novel is a surgeon, the son of missionaries, brought up in Uganda.
The story moves between Michael’s present, as he returns for the first time to Uganda for a conference, and his childhood, as well as the childhood of a Ugandan boy, Stanley, whose path he will cross as the novel develops. Little by little Michael’s troubles are revealed, but it is only late in the book that they are resolved in an unexpected and satisfying manner. This movement is effective, highlighting ironies and contrasts between the characters and between their situations; it provides a depth to the carefully wrought plot.
Misogyny, rights & Rowling
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