From Publishers Weekly
The measured pace of Rogers's narrative is perfectly suited to the brooding style of this psychological exploration of past sins and present-day guilt. Anne Harrington's missionary father has died in Africa, so the 37-year-old schoolteacher leaves London to oversee the final disposition of his affairs. Duties completed, Anne returns home via container ship—a journey that will take several weeks—because she needs the time "to find out what she feels" about his death. Onboard, she begins the ill-advised task of reading the journal he kept in the 1960s when he and her mother first moved to Nigeria. His entries reveal disconcerting secrets that open a chasm between Anne's memories and the written record. Then a stowaway beseeches Anne to help him and his pregnant wife. Anne ignores her gut feelings, does what she thinks is best for the couple and is plunged headlong into a complicated eddy of murder and deception over which she has no control. While Rogers creates a first-rate parallel between the settlement of Anne's internal conflict and the resolution of the issues aboard ship, the novel's conclusion is disappointingly flat. Still, this is a lusciously written tale, rich in emotional nuance. FYI:
Rogers's previous novels have won several awards, including the Orange Prize (Island) and the Somerset Maugham Award (Her Living Image).
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From Booklist
The themes of faith and betrayal suffuse this spellbinding psychological thriller from critically acclaimed British writer Rogers. Sailing back home to England following her missionary father's funeral in Nigeria, 37-year-old British art teacher Anne Harrington hopes for the peace and tranquility afforded by a long sea journey. But her anticipated solace is shattered on the first night aboard ship, when she encounters a stowaway and his deathly ill pregnant wife. Haunted by the experience, and conflicted over what course of action to take, Anne retreats to her cabin and into the pages of her father's diary and its startling revelations of a less-than-pious past. As she becomes personally involved in the stowaways' predicament, Anne, who has never shared her father's religious convictions, discovers surprising parallels between his life and her own. The author of seven novels, including
Mr. Wroe's Virgins (which she adapted into an award-winning drama for the BBC), Rogers is a master at blending gripping narrative and nuanced prose. Clear your schedule for this one: once you start, you won't want to let go.
Allison BlockCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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