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I couldn't agree more, as I found myself crying more than a few times. This book is pain and love and history. It's a daughter's quest to understand how and why her father was hanged by a government that wanted nothing more than to obliterate his existence. It's Aminatta Forna's Sierra Leone.
The country of her childhood, and the one the greed of a few big men did not permit her to experience. Sep 28, Kate M rated it liked it. I related to Aminatta's experience in one small way, and that was living between the UK and Afric as a child. That was as far as it went and the whole experience of living in a very politically Unstable country, Sierra Leone in the 70's must have been a scary and unsettling experience for the family. Briefly the story is - Aminatta's dad is chosen in his family to go to the UK to train to be a doctor.
He meets a Scottish lady who he marries and after he has trained she comes to Africa to live.
T I related to Aminatta's experience in one small way, and that was living between the UK and Afric as a child. They have 3 children but his wife can't cope with the cultural contrast and leaves the children with Mohammed and returns to the UK. Mohammed marries an Africa lady who Aminatta initially doesn't get on with, but then forms a strong bond with, all the children call her mum. Mohammed is very political and gives up being a doctor and ultimately becomes the Minister of Finance in Sierra Leone.
What follows is his rise and fall with a leader of Sierra Leone who gets rid of people at a whim. The stories of torture and imprisonment to get those being tortured to sign at statement that tells what those in power want are pretty awful. Aminetta goes back to Sierra Leone to find out exactly what happened to her father and eventually finds this out. Aug 11, Andrea Roach rated it it was amazing.
The Devil That Danced on the Water will take you through the gamut of emotion. Forna skillfully begins the book bringing the reading into her world as a child who adores her doctor father on the day he is taken from her.
It's a cliffhanger we only that it's the last time we ever saw him and it's a shock. From there, I was willing to follow Forna through the next pages through this world of political corruption, racism, child soldiers, class strata, heat and dust, tradition and modernity. I followed her from country to country and watched her family's lives play out and finally as an adult, her quest for the answer of what really happen to her father.
The Devil that Danced on the Water is part memoir, part non-fiction; part historic research. The story of Sierra Leone and it's beautiful people is heart breaking and is what happened to the Forna family.
What you learn about the country is invaluable and the writing is beautiful. Aminatta was the youngest of Mohammed Forna's three children and was ten years old when the Sierra Leonean dictatorship took him from his home. Aminatta tells story in two parts: As the reader, we are left with many questions and glimpses of happenings we do not understand. In the second half of the book we Aminatta was the youngest of Mohammed Forna's three children and was ten years old when the Sierra Leonean dictatorship took him from his home. In the second half of the book we travel back to Sierra Leone with Aminatta as she investigates the arrest and testimonies against her father.
Her courage, love, and persistence unlocks the silence and mystery and brings to light the lies and fear that lead to her father's execution. I enjoyed the book very much both for the interesting look at political self-rule struggle in Sierra Leone I had not heard before but even more for the opportunity to meet Aminatta and witness her personal victory in finding the truth.
Mar 12, Ann rated it liked it. While I admire her courage in investigating the heart-breaking sham trial and murder of her father in Sierra Leone, the writing style not so much. I thought the book needed an editor as I found her stream of consciousness and flipping back and forth in time disconcerting. I frequently had to reread passages to discover if she was in Scotland, Sierra Leone, or England. That said, a good addition to the literature on West Africa and Sierra Leone in particular. Feb 13, Malky rated it really liked it Shelves: Hell of a story, that despite being non-fiction has an otherwordly feel as a young child moves between rural Aberdeenshire, post colonial Sierra Leone and London.
Ultimately shocking and rage inducing , however I also found it difficult to keep track of everyone since so many people appear in the story across multiple timeframes. Jan 09, Rebecca rated it really liked it. As her father moves from being a rural doctor to involvement in politics, at one point becoming Minister of Finance but at other points imprisoned and in exile, this becomes not just a memoir of an unusual childhood but also a story of Sierra Leonean history post independence.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Very good story of a unique African girlhood and of a life well-lived by her aspirational and principled father who died unjustly for the cause of democracy. It is a story of Sierra Leone from independence to the end of a gruesome Civil War. Forna informs her readers about the culture and politics of the country. It is beautifully written and engaging. Apr 29, Dina rated it liked it.
Really struggled with this book. It's not a bad book, I just struggled to get into it and actually caring, which is unusual for me.
Editorial Reviews. About the Author. Marta Gottfried Wiley is of Mexican descent and is The Water Daughter - Kindle edition by Marta G. Wiley. Download it. Produced by Joe Henry & Loudon Wainwright III. "Daughter" Track Info. Strange Weirdos: Music From and Inspired by the Film Knocked Up Loudon Wainwright III.
Mar 17, Karen Pratt rated it liked it. An interesting book of Ms Forna memoir of being brought up in Africa within politics that were so corrupt. The issue I found with the book was that it jumped a lot and sometimes difficult to know where you were. Quite a hard book to read. Jun 24, Maria Racero rated it really liked it. Oct 30, Itumeleng Rasethetho rated it really liked it.
Sep 23, Alasdair Craig rated it it was amazing Shelves: Compelling, intimate and moving. Just before I start, I just want to let you know that my edition is the pre publication edition. So some of the things I mention may differ to all the copies out there. Either way, this book is amazing! Aminatta is a brave woman.
Her father a brave man. To stand up and be counted in countries such a the UK takes courage, but to do it in Sierra Leone, and about Sierra Leone, is something completely different. It takes another level of courage altogether. I am no expert on Sierra Leone, but I did le Just before I start, I just want to let you know that my edition is the pre publication edition. I am no expert on Sierra Leone, but I did learn about the conflicts that occurred when researching the issue of Blood Diamonds several years back. I have friends who are from neighbouring countries so I know of the impact the civil war had on them.
The fear was wide spread, the tragedy immense. As I read page after page, the stories I heard from friends, the reports I'd read all came crashing down on me. Aminatta's story is not for the faint hearted. The way she flips from life in Sierra Leone amongst the vast empty countryside of long grasses and the occasional lion, to the busy hub-bub of Glasgow and London, in hiding from the political life of her father, is confusing to me as a reader, but then again this was a pre release copy, but it echoed what it must have been like for her and her siblings when they were younger.
In the countryside of Sierra Leone, she was accepted, in the UK, her family were subjected to the deep set attitudes of racism, her mother in particular. Aminatta's grandfather being one of those who inflicted racist taunts and exclusion tactics upon them. As she grows up, and eventually seeks the truth of her father's transition to local hero and Dr, saviour of many, to one of Minister in the corrupt dictatorial government of Siaka Stevens, her life becomes a tapestry of stories, mysteries, hidden agendas, death and fear. The images her eyes have seen, the screams and gun fire her ears have heard, make living life through the Egyptian Revolution seem like a walk in a park in the UK, and an affluent area at that.
Aminatta's father, Mohamed Forna, was a brave man. His fight for justice was a dangerous one, not just for him, but his entire family, and a very large family it was; one so big Aminatta, her siblings and her mother never could tell whether the many visitors to the house, declaring to be a brother or a sister were telling the truth or not. The scenes described in this books will make some of you want to close the book, some of you may even be too timid to even want to read the book, but those of you who want to have a better understanding of what greed and corruption can do to a person and a nation would be wise to read this book.
If you want to read a book that will inspire you to make a difference to your own life, or the life of another, should read it.
Those who moan about their everyday lives in countries such The UK and The States should read this, just so they can realise just how lucky they are, but then again if they are moaning about their lives, it is very unlikely this would be the kind of book that would appeal to them.
It will develop your humanity. Sep 20, Dana Clinton rated it liked it. I just finished reading this novel on my Nook; it was a gift from my daughter from last Christmas, off my multi-page wish list, and I didn't want to just let it sit there any more!! This introduced me to a world I truly know very little perhaps next to nothing!
Aminatta Forna, the author, has created a sort of biography, and the daughter's quest mentioned in the subtitle was her efforts to investigate what really happened to her father, a forme I just finished reading this novel on my Nook; it was a gift from my daughter from last Christmas, off my multi-page wish list, and I didn't want to just let it sit there any more!! Aminatta Forna, the author, has created a sort of biography, and the daughter's quest mentioned in the subtitle was her efforts to investigate what really happened to her father, a former cabinet minister in Sierra Leone who resigned from his post in protest over growing corruption in his country, only to be arrested along with several others, accused of treason, and hanged.
In Freetown she lived in an extended family, keeping company with cooks who told endless stories. She evokes this life with a true eye for description of a vanished world. The girls' boarding school, where her best friend casually told her that she could not invite Aminatta to her party because her father "doesn't like blacks", was a terrible place for a child living with loneliness and incomprehension. But the deepest incomprehension underlying everything in young Aminatta's life was caused by the slow disintegration of her parents' marriage - the rows, the silences. Overt racism surfaced inside the family and undermined her own identity when her mother married a white UN official after a quick divorce in Mexico, and then told Aminatta not to play with "the African children" any more.
Her Scottish mother, or Real Mum as the children called her, disappeared from their lives except for one Christmas card each after Dr Forna sued for custody and took his children home to Freetown. At first the warm, embracing life they had known there before was poisoned by battles with their new stepmother, Auntie Yabome, who sacked their favourite friend in the house, the steward, and beat six-year-old Aminatta. But Yabome emerged as a heroine as the trap closed around Dr Forna. She managed to smuggle the children out of the country and make a life for them in England, showing bravery and loyalty that marked Aminatta for life.
M s Campbell, who received the news of her father's death while she was working abroad at a ski resort, is looking forward to the day when Bluebird K7 returns to Coniston. C ampbell remains the only person to set both world land and water speed records in the same year, From he set seven world water speed records in K7 and when he died he had been trying to go one better than the His father Malcolm broke a series of speed records on land and on water during the s and s using a number of vehicles named Bluebird, before dying after a series of strokes in at the age of 63 - one of the few land speed record holders of his era to die of natural causes.
D onald Campbell began using his father's old boat Bluebird K4 to set his own records, but after it suffered a structural failure at mph in he developed the K7. My mind just went to nothing. It was always the reward that counted and not the risk. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.