Review: The Memory of Love

From the book cover

In contemporary Sierra Leone, a devastating civil was has left an eerie populace with terrible secrets to keep. In the capital hospital, Kai, a gifted young surgeon, is plagued by demons that are beginning to threaten his livelihood. Elsewhere in the hospital lies Elias Cole, a man who was young during the country's turbulent post-colonial years and has stories to tell that are far from heroic. As past and present intersect in the buzzing city, Kai and Elias are drawn unwittingly closer to Adrian, a British psychologist with good intentions, and into the path of one woman at the center of their stories.

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Aminata Forna's The Memory of Love made the 2011 Orange Prize Short List, and is an 'Essence Book Club' recommended read.

I so want to add this novel to my 5ers list - but I can't.

Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome book; the subject matter is compelling, the writing is intelligent and the main characters are dynamic, but the plot really dragged at times. It took me a good 200 pages to really get into the stories (there are 445 pages to this novel).

The first chapter opens with Elias Cole, pre-hospitalization, reminiscing about the first time he met his future wife, Saffia. Eventually, he tells the rest of his story to Adrian as the novel flashes back and forth between the present and the past.

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