The Memory of Love
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize
Published on 7. March 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
464 pages
978-1-4088-0965-5 (ISBN)
Description
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize 2011
'A writer of great talent and courage' MONICA ALI
'An affecting, passionate and intelligent novel about the redemptive power of love and storytelling' TELEGRAPH
_____________________
Freetown, Sierra Leone, 1969.
On a hot January evening that he will remember for decades, Elias Cole first catches sight of Saffia Kamara, the wife of a charismatic colleague. He is transfixed. Thirty years later, lying in the capital's hospital, he recalls the desire that drove him to acts of betrayal he has tried to justify ever since.
Elsewhere in the hospital, Kai, a gifted young surgeon, is desperately trying to forget the pain of a lost love that torments him as much as the mental scars he still bears from the civil war that has left an entire people with terrible secrets to keep. It falls to a British psychologist, Adrian Lockheart, to help the two survivors, but when he too falls in love, past and present collide with devastating consequences.
The Memory of Love is a heartbreaking story of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.
'A writer of great talent and courage' MONICA ALI
'An affecting, passionate and intelligent novel about the redemptive power of love and storytelling' TELEGRAPH
_____________________
Freetown, Sierra Leone, 1969.
On a hot January evening that he will remember for decades, Elias Cole first catches sight of Saffia Kamara, the wife of a charismatic colleague. He is transfixed. Thirty years later, lying in the capital's hospital, he recalls the desire that drove him to acts of betrayal he has tried to justify ever since.
Elsewhere in the hospital, Kai, a gifted young surgeon, is desperately trying to forget the pain of a lost love that torments him as much as the mental scars he still bears from the civil war that has left an entire people with terrible secrets to keep. It falls to a British psychologist, Adrian Lockheart, to help the two survivors, but when he too falls in love, past and present collide with devastating consequences.
The Memory of Love is a heartbreaking story of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.
Reviews / Votes
'A writer of great talent and courage' * Monica Ali * 'An intricate tapestry of betrayal, tragedy and loss ... an affecting, passionate and intelligent novel about the redemptive power of love and storytelling' * Daily Telegraph * 'Let us hope that it takes its place where it deserves to be; not at the top of the pile of "African Literature" but outside any category altogether - and at the top of award shortlists' * The Times * 'Intelligent, engrossing and beautifully crafted' * Daily Mail *More details
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2010
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€12.49
Available for download
Person
Aminatta Forna was born in Scotland
and raised in West Africa. Her first book, The
Devil that Danced on the Water, was shortlisted
for the Samuel Johnson Prize 2003. Her novel
Ancestor Stones was winner of the 2008
Hurston Wright Legacy Award, the
Literaturpreis in Germany, was nominated for
the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and selected by the Washington Post as one of the most important books of 2006. In 2007 Vanity Fair named Aminatta as one of Africa's most promising new writers. Aminatta has also written for magazines and newspapers, radio and
television, and presented television documentaries on Africa's history and art. Aminatta Forna lives in London with her husband.
and raised in West Africa. Her first book, The
Devil that Danced on the Water, was shortlisted
for the Samuel Johnson Prize 2003. Her novel
Ancestor Stones was winner of the 2008
Hurston Wright Legacy Award, the
Literaturpreis in Germany, was nominated for
the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and selected by the Washington Post as one of the most important books of 2006. In 2007 Vanity Fair named Aminatta as one of Africa's most promising new writers. Aminatta has also written for magazines and newspapers, radio and
television, and presented television documentaries on Africa's history and art. Aminatta Forna lives in London with her husband.