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AUGUST 24, 2017 // 23
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BOOKMONGER
Debut novel, ‘Atlas of Forgotten
Places,’ is a must-read
One of the original
motives for founding this
weekly column about
Northwest books and
authors was to trace how
writers influenced and in-
spired one another through-
out the region.
But there’s been a grad-
ual shift. Communications,
geopolitics and transporta-
tion have diluted the region-
al focus over time. Authors
seem to be writing less
about rain and fish, moun-
tains and clams. With the
internet and air travel, writ-
ers no longer feel hemmed
in by gray skies and flooded
rivers. They may choose
to live here, but now the
world’s their oyster.
Take Jenny D. Williams,
for example. A recent
arrival from California, who
before that lived in New
York, Uganda and Germa-
ny, Williams now lives in
Seattle.
But her debut novel,
“The Atlas of Forgotten
Places,” is set in cen-
tral Africa. It revolves
around the actions of three
strong-minded women —
one American, one German
and one Ugandan — in
December 2008.
Lily Bennett is the
American. She wants to
get a taste of what her Aunt
Sabine did as a long-term
humanitarian worker in
Africa. After graduating
from college, Lily signs
up for a six-month stint as
an aid worker in Uganda.
She plans to return home to
Colorado for Christmas.
Sabine Hardt had worked
for many years in a succes-
sion of countries — Ethio-
pia, Mozambique, Tanzania
and Uganda. But she even-
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By Jenny D.
Williams
Thomas
Dunne Books
tually succumbed to com-
passion fatigue and returned
to her hometown in Germa-
ny. She is still trying to get
used to the snowy winter
when she gets a call from
her widowed brother-in-law
in the U.S. His daughter,
Sabine’s niece, has gone
missing in Uganda.
At Christmastime, the
embassies are operating
with a skeleton staff and
can’t provide much help.
So the only thing for
Sabine to do is fly back to
Africa to make inquiries
and pin down Lily’s where-
abouts.
368 pp
$26.99
In Uganda, Rose Akulu
has been pulling her life
back together after escap-
ing the Lord’s Resistance
Army, a rebel group en-
gaged in recurring conflict
with the government. The
LRA had kidnapped Rose
and held her for several
years. During captivity, she
suffered many losses, but
now that she has returned,
her community and even
her family consider her
damaged goods.
Fortunately, she has
found work with Christoph,
a Swiss academic who is
researching local folklore.
And until very recently,
Rose had a sweetheart,
Ocen. But a few weeks
back they had a spat, and
he hasn’t come around
THE COASTER THEATRE PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS
Crossword Answer
F
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“The Atlas
of Forgotten
Places”
since then.
When Sabine arrives in
search of Lily, she discov-
ers that Christoph and Rose
had known her niece. As
the three of them start piec-
ing together events, they
realize that Lily and Ocen
may have left together, and
the trail of their missing
loved ones appears to lead
straight into the heart of a
rebellion-wracked region.
Williams has devel-
oped a solid storyline and
created characters who
feel utterly real. She will
familiarize you with a
place of profligate beauty,
desperate politics and ruth-
less violence. But she also
underscores the capacity of
compassion.
“The Atlas of Forgotten
Places” is a must-read —
an excellent debut.
The Bookmonger is
Barbara Lloyd McMichael,
who writes this weekly col-
umn focusing on the books,
authors and publishers
of the Pacific Northwest.
Contact her at bkmonger@
nwlink.com
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