4.11 avg rating — 789,748 ratings

"We did this for our book club years ago and it was universally loved - most of us had a link with Africa having lived or visited there, and it was so true to my memories of missionaries I have met - and not all were pleasant encounters! I loved the history she incorporates in the latter part of the book, and the various first person narratives. "

4.34 avg rating — 181,543 ratings

"My knowledge of an Nigeria stems from the famine in Biafra which has played a large indirect role in my life - I spent 20 years working in development aid, mostly with Concern Worldwide which sprung out of the Biafra war when Irish missionaries broke the blockade by covertly bringing in good and supplies and ending up in jail and getting deported for their efforts. But Concern went on to become a global aid agency. The history of Nigeria and the conflict of the Igbo people is brilliantly described by a writer who has close links to her past. "

4.22 avg rating — 36,585 ratings

"It spoke to much to me as I lived and worked in Tanzania during the Rwandan genocide and had first hand experience of meeting victims and families of those killed and also some of the perpetrators which caused a big moral dilemma - do we help those who are the perpetrators of evil or let them to their fate when they cross the border seeking asylum? We lived among Hutu and Tutsi for many years prior to 1994 so it's been a large part of my life, this book was one of many I read about that awful episode in Africa's history."