This is the first novel I have read by Banks, so others may be better. My issue is that I just did not believe the author understood the character he created. How can an principled women with ideals so strong she leaves home and sacrifices her whole identity, morph herslf so easily and conveniently as Hannah does in this novel? I just didn’t buy it and felt somewhere the story went wrong. I loved reading about the complexities of Africa, but I truly hated this character for being written in such an un-trusworthy voice. I couldn’t ever get over how she takes the job working in an animal experimentation lab and then turns into someone trying to save the same animals. How could she somewhat randomly meet and marry a government official (Woodrow) after being so independent, so anti-government, and so clearly unmotivated by feelings or intellect? As, I wrote before…I just was never convinced by the author and I didn’t “get it”.

Having said that, I must admit that I liked the parts describing life in Liberia. I am fascinated with Africa and its history and the author really got a handle on describing the chaos. I think I may change my rating to “Worth consuming” just based on that.