First published 1982
John Monegal carries the weight of constant displacement. An adopted Black man raised by an Air Force sergeant, he has bounced between bases from Spain to Florida to Kansas, never finding where he belongs. His nights offer escape through vivid dreams of a luminous equatorial world populated by early human ancestors. These visions feel more real than his mundane job and fractured present. When a scientist becomes fascinated by Monegal's nocturnal journeys and proposes an experimental solution, Monegal faces an impossible choice. The scientist offers him passage to the very world he dreams about, one million years in the past. Monegal accepts and finds himself alone in prehistoric Central Africa among a tribe of proto-hominids. He must learn their ways to survive while carefully sharing knowledge from his own era. In this ancient landscape, he discovers what eluded him in the twentieth century: purpose, belonging, and eventually love.
Genres: historical-fiction, adventure, alternate-history, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Central Africa, Spain, Florida, Kansas
Period: 1 Million Years Ago, 20th Century
Hardcover · Victor Gollancz Ltd. (London)