fromm-mom

I just finished Four Fires. I loved it from start to finish. I read it following Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken and it was the perfect match. Everything I have ever read about WWII has been about the Holocaust. Both of these novels give an entirely different perspective - that of what it was like in the Japanese POW camps.
Bryce Courtney and Humphrey Bower have once again proved to be a fantastic combination.

My friend in Toronto told me I must read this book. So, I looked for the title it goes by in Canada, The Book of Negroes. I couldn't find it at first and then as I was about to order it from a Canadian bookseller, I noticed that the cover was the same as a book here called Someone Knows My Name.
My detective work finished, I can now say that this book is as good as my friend said, even better. The reader follows Aminata Diallo from her kidnapping in Africa, at age eleven, to her enslavement in South Carolina, then on to New York, Nova Scotia, and eventually London. The narrator, Adenrele Ojo, is fabulous and truly brings the story to life.

Just about anything Humphrey Bower reads is worth listening to. Coupled with the authors that he chooses to read for, one has a perfect match.
This particular story is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching. Although I knew all about the Cray Brothers, I was not familiar with the other historical facts in this novel. I enjoyed that fact that it leaves you guessing (especially if you listen to the credits at the end!)
If you enjoy this, you will also like Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts