H. Nigel Thomas is a master of dialogue. In this telescoped and diaristic story memory, history, sexuality, religion, masculinity, metropolitan life, and post-colonial life all collides. The lives lived in these pages are riven by persistent contradictions, pleasures and disappointments. Thomas is at his best as his characters reveal in their own words the many difficult and endearing truths of this powerful tale of familial revelations. This is a story told with bold intimacy from the powerful pen of a writer at the height of his powers.