I am quite certain that Irish writer Gavin Weston has never been an 11-year-old Nigerian girl. Yet in his writing of Harmattan, he takes us into her head like a skilled surgeon with a 15 blade.
This heart wrenching story is so vivid and real I had to keep reminding myself that this is not real… probably.
Our heroine is an intelligent, loving, hopeful, kind and innocent 11-year-old Nigerian girl from the village of Watada. We go through her very short-lived ups and the deep lows placed upon her by those responsible for her care. When placed in deplorable and unthinkable situations (I pray that no human should ever have to face); her beautiful spirit is broken, battered and brought to its’ knees.
At times the story was hard to read because Mr. Weston reached into my rib cage and squeezed my heart with descriptions so precise, that it has seared the images into my mind that I would not soon forget.
Sometimes we are so wrapped up in our own drama that we become disconnected. Harmattan has reconnected me with issues bigger than myself. It has made me even more sensitive to the people who are hurting all around the world (especially children), not by their own doing but by the society they have little choice to live in.
I wish everyone would read Harmattan, it would definitely put humanity back into humans.
Read the back cover of Harmattan here.
@JoHatty Recommend you read #Harmattan, so agree with Gillian Felix
“Written with an undercurrent of seething anger, this is a story that will be talked about for years to come” http://www.chescopa.com/books/2012/03/24/harmattan-by-gavin-weston/#comment-5827
@Tripfiction: #Harmattan it is UP there for us, really enjoyed it. Will be on our Top 10 reads of 2012!
“Shocking in its rawness, beautiful in its descriptions” Review of Harmattan by Gavin Weston..http://tripfiction.blogspot.com/2012/09/harmattan-set-in-niger-west-africa.html.
@JoHatty: #Harmattan by Gavin Weston @WestonOfTinTown should be on the reading list of all our UK schools @FORWARDUK
Book of the week : Harmattan. Giving a voice to child brides in #Niger http://tooyoungtowed.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/125/
#Harmattan it is UP there for us, really enjoyed it. Will be on our Top 10 reads of 2012!
HI Gillian,
Thanks for stopping by my blog to let me know about your review. A wonderful book and I wish more would read it.
Jack
I agree Jack thank you for your response
I’ve Read That @IveReadThat
Harmattan – Weston achieves the most important thing of all: opening our eyes to the issue of child marriage
Harmattan by @WestonOfTinTown is a magnificent work. A fiction story but based on reality all the way through. A must read for all. #Africa
@pen4hire: Incredible book! @WestonOfTinTown explores life in Niger in HARMATTAN. Review:http://atravelerslibrary.com/2012/09/19/novel-takes-you-to-africa/ …”
Gavin Weston author of Harmattan interviewed at Every Mother Counts… http://fb.me/1XIQzUakG