A prim missionary, a sleazy executive, and a humble witch doctor are all players in Myers’ captivating debut set in the Congo in the 1950s. As the novel opens, young South Carolina missionary Amanda Brown weathers a rocky flight en route to her new post as manager of a missionary guesthouse in tiny Belle Vue. It is a harbinger of the challenges that await her. Though small and primitive, Belle Vue is populated by many larger-than-life personalities, from Amanda’s cranky housekeeper (with the wonderfully odd name, Protruding Navel) to the local witch doctor’s wife, whose limp leads people to underestimate her—at their peril. The discovery of a large uncut diamond draws out the sinister side of Belle Vue’s inhabitants, and Amanda soon finds herself caught up in the chaos.

Sending to the winner of the Family Sweeps. Enjoy!

This has arrived safely, and looks good. Thank you Lauraloo29!

This was a really interesting novel with just the kind of bizarrely behaving ex-pats you would expect to find in this situation. It managed to avoid every part of the story being from the point of view of the white characters. You felt that the Congolese people in the story were characters in their own right and had some influence over their lives. One thing that stood out was the main character's opinion that lynching was a thing of the past in the USA. This in a novel set in 1958. I hope that was just supposed to show her naivety rather than being the view of the author! Thanks for sharing this one Lauraloo29.

And off it goes to the winner of the wonderful family sweeps. Hope they enjoy it as much as I did. Happy reading!

Received as a prize in the Wonderful Family sweepstakes. Thank you so much! I look forward to reading it, and possibly sending it to the winner of the next WF sweeps, as per tradition with this particular book