Author:Arthur Japin
In 1837, two young African princes arrive at the court of Willem I in the Netherlands. They have been given to the Dutch by the King of the Ashanti as surety in a deal over illegal slave trading. The two boys think they have been sent to acquire a European education, but time passes. They forget their native language and become exiles. Treated as curiosities by white people, their friendship suffers and their paths diverge. Years later, as the twentieth century dawns, the elderly Kwasi, now owner of a coffee plantation in Java, sits down to write his autobiography. Based on a true story, The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi is both a brilliant piece of storytelling and a moving portrayal of the search for identity and belonging.
Beautifully crafted and spellbinding
—— Daily MailA bravura rendering of historical detail... Japin's greatest accomplishment is the narrator's tone in which the voice of an embittered old man merges with that of a perceptive but scared and betrayed child
—— Independent on SundayAn elegant and ultimately moving fictional reworking of another troubling chapter of Europeans in Africa and Africans in Europe
—— Caryl PhillipsMesmerising... Like Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, Japin's ventriloquism is virtually flawless
—— Time OutA deeply humane book about a spectacularly exotic subject
—— New York Times Book ReviewHow perfectly structured and paced it is, every episode carefully weighted, every chapter end a cliffhanger, scarcely a word wasted
—— The TimesScary, funny and loaded with the kind of unforgettable characters that make all writers want to try harder
—— Eoin Colfer , The WeekA fine meditation on love and loss
—— Sally Cousins , Sunday TelegraphMankell carefully maps the changing seasons in beautifully stark prose
—— James Urquhart , Financial TimesThe cool, enigmatic tone is reminiscent of Paul Auster
—— Brandon Borshaw , Independent on SundayVivid prose...translated beautifully
—— Ian Thompson , Evening StandardPresent a spare tale of metaphors and symbols to argue that, in the middle of life, we are in death but occasionally, and happily, the opposite too
—— Tim Pashley , Times Literary Supplement
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