A Sankofa is an African symbol of a bird that is looking backward towards its feet, it symbolizes the idea that you must look backwards to move forwards. That is Anna’s journey as she is in the midst of a divorce when her mother dies. She never knew her father but she finds a diary he wrote amongst her mother’s things. She decides to try to meet him to help her figure out who she is. She finds out her father is actually a very powerful man in a small African nation. He did not know she existed and when she meets him, he is nothing like the man in the journal. We see the two of them in this uncomfortable dance as they get to know one another when they don’t even truly seem to know themselves.
The story was definitely unique but the theme is not. I’ve seen this type of exploration of an unknown parent in my father’s life. Lots of the moments in this story resonated with me because of that. The desire to be wanted and seen and yet impress one another how well you’ve done without each other. The African elements were interesting and maybe a bit uncomfortable because Anna has been raised as white so she is a little judgy. Lots of the secondary characters feel like caricatures but it was the story between Anna and her father that was the most powerful for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Thanks to Libro.fm for access to this one as a part of their ALC program. All opinions above are my own.
Do you like stories that resonate with your own experience or do you want them to be different from your life?
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