IN LOVE AND WAR
TAP Book Review
BY LESLEY LOKKO
T
he beauty of stories lies in their ability to allow us to mentally traverse beyond familiar geographical and cultural boundaries. They take us from our (un)comfortable spaces and let us observe with amusement, learn and critique narrated incidents. Well written stories make us relive historical experiences, fall in love, experience passion and mourn with characters moulded by authors and brought to life by our imaginations. Readers and followers of Lesley Lokko’s writings would agree that her latest book, In Love and War allows them to feel the above and much more.
that become my novels actually begin”. This movement between continents and cultures manifests itself as a recurring theme through her most recent novel, In Love and War.
is a no nonsense, adrenaline addicted war correspondent, whose passion to share stories has taken her all over the world and into dangerous territories. Jane Marshall is a hardworking highly acclaimed TV producer haunted by the phrase, “you are only as big as your last great production.” She is desperately looking for the next big scoop that will wad off her colleagues who are eagerly waiting for her to drop the ball and take her job.
“She grabbed the bag that contained her camera, recorder, passport, money, mosquito repellent and a box of tampons- in this region more useful than a gun and just as hard to find- and followed the men out of the café....”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE NARRATIVE
Born in Scotland to a Scottish mother and a Ghanaian father, Lesley Lokko split her childhood life between Scotland and Ghana.
“She grabbed the bag that contained her camera, recorder, passport, money, mosquito repellent and a box of tampons- in this region more useful than a gun and just as hard to find- and followed the men out of the café.”
As a young adult she tried her hand at different careers ranging from waitressing to office manager, and eventually decided to study architecture and obtained a doctorate in it. She describes writing narratives as her passion, and has published nine fictional books so far. As an author and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Johannesburg, Lokko shares her time between Johannesburg, London, Accra and Edinburgh. She describes herself as spending an “awful lot of time in airports. That’s where many of the ideas
The above excerpt found in the first page of the book, sets the tone and prepares the reader for an intense journey. It is fast paced, with frequent movements between London, and various countries in East Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa; characteristic of life in the 21st century. The story is about a young female journalist operating in what many would describe as a “man’s world”. Lexi Sturgis, the main protagonist,
Deena Kenan is a young British doctor of Arab origin, passionate about human rights and equality. When the Arab Spring breaks out in Egypt, Deena is anxious to get back to her roots and help her
41