When Anne Harrington decides to return from her father's burial by boat, she is advised strongly against it. The journey from Nigeria back to England is too long, she is warned: far better to return to her old routine as quickly as possible. But Anne is not quite alone: she has her father's belongings, and more particularly, his diaries from his time in Africa. Many years earlier, Anne's parents had made the opposite journey, arriving in Nigeria to run a mission in the east of the country. It was a time of new beginnings for her father, David, and her mother, Miriam, but also of great tensions: Miriam found local attitudes towards women restricting her role and her freedom; while David's theological differences with his staff were to have wider and more serious repercussions. For Anne, meanwhile, the voyage home is not turning out to be the haven of solitude she is hoping for. Deep inside the ship, hidden among the containers, she discovers a pair of stowaways, desperate not to be discovered. And though Anne promises not to reveal their existence to the crew, if she does not find help, one of them may die ...
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The measured pace of Rogers's narrative is perfectly suited to the brooding style of this psychological exploration of past sins and present-day guilt. Anne Harrington's missionary father has died in Africa, so the 37-year-old schoolteacher leaves London to oversee the final disposition of his affairs. Duties completed, Anne returns home via container ship—a journey that will take several weeks—because she needs the time "to find out what she feels" about his death. Onboard, she begins the ill-advised task of reading the journal he kept in the 1960s when he and her mother first moved to Nigeria. His entries reveal disconcerting secrets that open a chasm between Anne's memories and the written record. Then a stowaway beseeches Anne to help him and his pregnant wife. Anne ignores her gut feelings, does what she thinks is best for the couple and is plunged headlong into a complicated eddy of murder and deception over which she has no control. While Rogers creates a first-rate parallel between the settlement of Anne's internal conflict and the resolution of the issues aboard ship, the novel's conclusion is disappointingly flat. Still, this is a lusciously written tale, rich in emotional nuance. FYI: Rogers's previous novels have won several awards, including the Orange Prize (Island) and the Somerset Maugham Award (Her Living Image).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
The themes of faith and betrayal suffuse this spellbinding psychological thriller from critically acclaimed British writer Rogers. Sailing back home to England following her missionary father's funeral in Nigeria, 37-year-old British art teacher Anne Harrington hopes for the peace and tranquility afforded by a long sea journey. But her anticipated solace is shattered on the first night aboard ship, when she encounters a stowaway and his deathly ill pregnant wife. Haunted by the experience, and conflicted over what course of action to take, Anne retreats to her cabin and into the pages of her father's diary and its startling revelations of a less-than-pious past. As she becomes personally involved in the stowaways' predicament, Anne, who has never shared her father's religious convictions, discovers surprising parallels between his life and her own. The author of seven novels, including Mr. Wroe's Virgins (which she adapted into an award-winning drama for the BBC), Rogers is a master at blending gripping narrative and nuanced prose. Clear your schedule for this one: once you start, you won't want to let go. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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