Shorn of last names, relatives or social allegiances, they lead lives of fatalistic detachment, passing through militia-manned roadblocks by day and shuddering at the crackle of automatic gunfire at night, but hardly realizing that a storm is heading their way. Born a dugaanti , a child meant to be buried, Sholoongo was reputedly raised by a lioness after being abandoned in the bush by her mother. She grew into an insatiable teenage seductress and had her way with virtually every man in town except Nonno. Home after 20 years in America, married to a Moroccan fire eater and leader of a cult known as Shape Shifters, Sholoongo demands that the adult Kalaman now satisfy a pledge he had made to her as a boy. Farah is a former winner of the American English-Speaking Union Prize for Literature, a fact that shows in prose that is as fluid and ornate as calligraphy on parchment.
Secrets is a promenade of deftly crafted phrases and unexpected metaphors.
The militia at the roadblocks are as mute and nondescript as toll takers on the New Jersey Turnpike. Secrets is a terrific novel, but one better appreciated as a rich buffet than a single-course dinner. T. Obinkaram Echewa, a Nigerian native and novelist, teaches English at West Chester University. You can buy this book online at Barnes and Noble.