First published 2021
Aminatta Forna examines displacement, memory, and belonging across continents in this collection of personal essays. She finds wonder in airplane travel, traces her father's journey as part of a generation of young Africans who studied abroad to rebuild post-colonial nations, and shadows Dr. Jalloh, Sierra Leone's only veterinarian, as he treats street dogs in Freetown. Forna explores what animal treatment reveals about society's values. She analyzes American race relations through African eyes, reflects on moving through the world as a Black woman, and considers sleep patterns across cultures. The author connects personal experience with broader questions about how humans relate to each other and the natural world. These meditations reveal how movement shapes identity and how individual stories illuminate universal themes of home, exile, and connection.
Genres: essays, african-literature, autobiography, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-experience, universal-themes
Setting: Africa, America, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Period: post-colonial
272 pages · Hardcover · Grove Press