Set during the Eritrean War for Independence in the late 1980s, Australian Timothy Darcy is a journalist seeking an interview with a high-profile Ethiopian prisoner of war. He travels with a small group from Sudan to Eritrea. The group includes Henry, an American relief worker attempting to get his Ethiopian fiancé out of the region, Christine, a French woman searching for her father (a cameraman filming the war), and Dame Julia, a humanitarian seeking to educate local girls on health issues. Their journey takes them through the heart of the war zone.

“We climbed the last bends and entered, through a stone doorway in the mountainside, the tail end of the trench system. We were in a deep, cool sap. Beneath a roof of logs and earth to our right, a wide compartment was crowded with soldiers. As my eyes got used to the dimness, I could see that here yet another class was in progress! Third grade science, Moka said.”

Darcy is the narrator, so this book feels like following a journalist on his assignment. He goes into the historical background of the conflict, the famine that occurred simultaneously, the toll taken on the civilian population, and the factions involved. I do not think it is a stretch to say the typical western reader will learn a lot about this time and place in history. An unnamed editor breaks in occasionally to provide context.

A few of the storylines seem superfluous, such as the situation with Darcy's Australian wife, who has left him and is living with another man. I am unsure how this part is supposed to fit with the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict. Otherwise, it is well-written historical fiction.

3.5
( )

A great read, because i felt i learnt something about a region of the world and a conflict that i barely knew existed. ( )

Found at a cake stall. 1 of 7 books for $5 total!. ( )