“A fascinating, morally ambiguous novel that juxtaposes the ambitions of the scientific community of outsiders against the sensitivities of the native cultures whose riches they unearth . . . Cinematic descriptions of the land and its people . . . Ripe for sophisticated book groups.”
–Library Journal, starred review
Kenya, 1961. As a small plane carrying Natalie Nelson lands at a remote airstrip in the Serengeti, Natalie knows she’s run just about as far as she can from home. Trained as an archaeologist, she has accepted an invitation to be part of a famous excavating team, her first opportunity to escape England and the painful memories of her past.
But before she can get her bearings, the dig is surrounded by controversy involving the local Masai people—and murder. Compounding the tension, Eleanor Deacon, friend of the Masai, who is leading the excavating mission, watches a rift grow between her two handsome sons. Natalie’s growing attraction to one of them soon becomes a passionate affair that turns dangerous when she must give evidence in a trial that could spark even more violence and turmoil.
The startling beauty of the Kenyan setting, the tension of looming social upheaval, and the dizzying highs and the crushing lows of a tragic love affair are all captured brilliantly on every page of this extraordinary and unforgettable novel.