In the tiny village of Kulumani, the people struggle to keep themselves safe from a marauding band of lions. Mozambique biologist and writer Couto crafts a rich tale in which the spirit world is made real, animals are controlled by people, and dead ancestors are feared for their power to destroy cities. Couto also manages to explore the clash of disparate belief systems—tribal, Islam, Christian—in postcolonial Africa and deftly weaves in a critique of the embedded patriarchy. If there is a fault, it is the unevenness of the reveal of information which at times allows questions to linger too long, distracting the reader from fully falling under the spell of this otherwise entrancing narrative. A haunting, ethereal flight of magical realism.--Kirkus
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