Whiteman [Paperback]

In an Ivory Coast village where Christians and Muslims are squaring off for war, against a backdrop of bloody conflict and vibrant African life, Jack Diazan American relief workerand Mamadou, his village guardian, learn that hate knows no color and that true heroism waits where we least expect it.

During lulls in the violence, Jack learns the cycles of Africaof hunting in the rain forest, cultivating the yam, and navigating the nuances of the language; of witchcraft, storytelling, and chivalry. Despite the omnipresence of AIDS, he courts a stunning Peul girl, meets his neighbors wife in the darkened forest, and desperately pursues the village flirt. Still, Jack spends many nights alone in his hut, longing for love in a place where his skin color excludes him.



Brimming with dangerous passions and the pressures of life in a time of war, Whiteman is a stunning debut and a tale of desire, isolation, humor, action, and fear.

PRAISE FOR WHITEMAN

What makes Whiteman so affecting is DSouzas understanding of what its like to fall in love with people who will never be like you, with a place that will never be home and with a troubled continent thatdespite your best intentionsyou can do nothing to save. PEOPLE (Critics Choice)

Quirky, seductive and funny. The author has acquired the arts of a master storyteller, and each little tale nestled in this novel has an intoxicating, fireside charm. LAURA MILLER, SALON

Africa ­Unchained
 
           At nine a.m., the doorbell rang. I couldn’t see who it was because of the high wall surrounding the house, but after a moment’s debate whether I shouldn’t just ignore it, I picked up the crowbar we’d been keeping handy and started across the courtyard to the security door. I’d talked with the girls about getting a gun in the black market, but we hadnl“+