“The first ten years of my life I was not black.” Thus begins this startlingly eloquent and beautiful tale based on the true story of Kwasi Boachi, a 19th- century African prince who was sent with his cousin, Kwame, to be raised in Holland as a guest of the royal family. Narrated by Kwasi himself, the story movingly portrays the perplexing dichotomy of the cousins' situation: black men of royal ancestry, they are subject to insidious bigotry even as they enjoy status among Europe’s highest echelons. As their lives wind down different paths–Kwame back to Africa where he enlists in the Dutch army, Kwasi to an Indonesian coffee plantation where success remains mysteriously elusive–they become aware of a terrible truth that lies at the heart of their experiences. Vivid, subtle, poignant and profound, The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi is an exquisite masterpiece of story and craft, a heartrending work that places Arthur Japin on a shelf that includes Joseph Conrad, J.M. Coetzee, Kazuo Ishiguro and Nadine Gordimer. From the Trade Paperback edition.From Publishers WeeklyDutch singer/actor Japin's debut draws on extraordinary real-life material: in 1837 two young Ashanti princes, Kwasi and Kwame, were taken to Holland, ostensibly to receive a European education, but in fact as peons in a cynical exchange between the Ashanti king (Kwame's father) and the still active slave traders. Kwasi tells the strange story as a gentle, peevish old man living on a failed coffee plantation in Java at the turn of the century. He remembers his jungle boyhood with cousin Kwame, the coming of the Dutch traders and his and Kwame's early years as curiosities at a Dutch school. Later embraced by the royal court, the two went on to college and became offbeat figures in Dutch society, struggling to persuade themselves that they had really found a new life. Kwasi, the more adaptable, cherished a passion for a Dutch princess until she married elsewhere for convenience. Kwame, deeply uneasy at his equivocal role, joined the army and was posted back to Africa where, eventually realizing that he was a mere plaything of the Dutch, he killed himself. Only toward the end of his life is Kwasi aware that he, too, has lived in self-deception. Japin tells the tale with imaginative empathy and, in the case of Kwame, truly powerful poetic re-creation. However, his incorporation of text from authentic 19th-century documents is disconcerting. This is an unusual story that could appeal to an appetite for the odd corners of history, but perhaps is too close to history to please the lovers of literary fiction who would at first seem to be its natural readers. (Nov. 21) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistJapin's beautifully written debut novel is based on the true story of two West African princes, Kwasi and Kwame, who are sent by the king of Ashanti (modern-day Ghana) to study in Holland in the 1830s. In Holland, they attend a private boarding school, where Kwasi excels at his studies and Kwame at art. Neither boy fits in; they are ridiculed by some and shunned by others. Kwame never ceases to long for the day he can return home to Africa, whereas Kwasi embraces the new culture and tries to blend in as much as possible. The boys' different reactions to Dutch culture drive a wedge between them, and they choose separate paths. As Kwame tries to return home, Kwasi accepts a government post, only to encounter prejudice from every side. Both face harsh disappointments: Kwame from the home he thought would not forsake him, and Kwasi from the realization that the abandonment of his native culture has harmed him most of all. Quietly moving, Japin's novel is a powerful study of displacement and disillusionment. Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 28
Book 2 Webster familyFrom the author of the bestselling debut THE OPEN DOOR comes a moving
and uplifting story about a generation of young people living through
World War II.When war breaks out Annie Webster and her
closeknit family find themselves - along with everyone else in the
country - thrust into a world of uncertainty, danger and despair. Her
brothers join up, her sweetheart Paul becomes a fighter pilot, and
Annie, desperate to help, finds herself in the WAAF, where her
intelligence and warmth singles her out for a role more daring than she
can ever have known.All the time, the Battle of Britain is
raging in the skies above her. The country has never needed its young
people more, but will Annie and her loved ones survive its darkest hour? Views: 28
SynopsisLondon 1934Amy Carter's great frustration is that at nearly fifteen she still can't read or write very well. She is intelligent, but has trouble with words. How is she going to survive when her father is hanged for murder and her mother dies, leaving her alone?Ben Scott, an artist she has met only once, finds her at this crucial time and takes her back to his landlady, who gives her a home. The people living in the house become her family, and, step-by-step, the past is put behind her. In 1939 she marries a young doctor, John Sterling, and her happiness is complete. Then war comes to tear her family apart. John is killed during an air raid, and Ben is reported missing.Is she destined to lose the two men she adores? And how many painful steps will it take to regain her happiness? Views: 28
Rosemary Baldwin is over it! All of it! Her dead-end job, her crappy apartment, her life without meaning. In a moment of sheer madness, she walks out of her job only to discover the opportunity for something different.
She leaves behind her mundane life for the Oregon Coast and opens the 2nd Chance Diner. With her new life, she’ll do what it takes to succeed which is why she has to investigate the murder that occurs in her diner. Will she be able to discover the murderer before her second chance is destroyed? And just what will the price of that investigation be? Views: 28
As World War II breaks out, four friends consider the changes that war will mean. Tomboyish Becky plans to join the ATS, her neighbours Bob and Jim the navy and army respectively. Only Becky's brother Will is left out of the excitement; because of a slight physical disability, he is forced to stay behind. As the friends are separated, their youthful enthusiasm is tempered by the grim newspaper headlines and their own experiences, and they will feel both joy and pain before the war is over. Views: 27
A corpse dressed in old-fashioned clothing is found by rescuers in a burning building in London's Moon Lane during the Blitz of Christmas 1940. At first, police believe that the dead man must have come from some pantomime or Dickensian show, but then they realize that the Blitz has reached such an intensity in 1940 that even the bravest showbiz people have closed up shop. Another policeman says he talked to a second person in antique clothing walking in the same neighborhood, but the mystery man has vanished into thin air. Is he a ghost...or something completely different? Seven spellbinding stories of mystery and horror by the author of the historical mystery novel, Case of the Dixie Ghosts. Views: 27
Caesar is dead. Revenge has armed his hand. His name is Ottaviano. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarro and Ben Kane. Despite his young age, Octavian is already a consul. His position is not yet consolidated enough for him to carry out his plans of revenge upon the murderers of his beloved adoptive father Julius Caesar, though - and no courtroom can quench his thirst for justice. He makes powerful allies in Mark Antony and Lepidus, with whom he forms a triumvirate, and unleashes upon the streets of Rome a reign of terror, turning the screws until the tension is such that it can find release only upon the battlefield. And he doesn't have to wait long: soon two great armies, led by four renowned commanders, stand ready to clash in Macedonia, far from the city of Rome and its corruption. One one side, Brutus and Cassius - on the other, Octavian and Mark Antony. It is the battle of Philippi, one of the most famous in Roman history. Is this where Caesar's murder... Views: 27
After rising to prominence for his role investigating the case of Jack the Ripper, former Detective Inspector Daniel Wilson is now retired. Known for his intelligence, investigative skills, and most of all his discretion, he's often consulted when a case must be solved quickly and quietly. So when a body is found in the Egyptian Collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, Wilson is called in.As he tries to uncover the identity of the dead man and the circumstances surrounding his demise, Wilson must contend with an unhelpful police Inspector, and more alarmingly, Abigail McKenzie, the archaeologist who discovered the body and is determined to protect the Egyptian collection. Can they find a way to work together to solve the mystery? Views: 27
A past filled with shame can be washed away with a love that conquers all Born to an unloving prostitute in a popular Chicago brothel, timid seventeen-year-old Dinah Hubley was raised amidst the secrets held in every dark, grimy room of her home. Anxious to escape, Dinah pursues her dream of becoming a Harvey Girl, waiting tables along the railroad in an upscale hotel. But when she finds out she isn't old enough, her only option is to accept a job as a chambermaid at the Clifton Hotel in Florence, Kansas. Eager to put everything behind her, Dinah feels more worthless than ever, based on a single horrible decision she made to survive.The Clifton offers a life Dinah has never known, but blinded to the love around her, Dinah remains buried in the shame of her past. When a handsome chicken farmer named Amos Ackerman starts to show interest, Dinah withdraws further, convinced no one could want a sullied woman like her. Despite his self-consciousness about his... Views: 27
