AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: SEFI ATTA

Sefi Atta was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1964 and currently divides her time between the United States, England and Nigeria.

Book Review: The Maestro,The Magistrate & The Mathematician

BOOK TITLE: THE MAESTRO,THE MAGISTRATE & THE MATHEMATICIAN

AUTHOR: TENDAI HUCHU

GENRE: FICTION (POLITICS)

REVIEW BY: READERS LOUNGE (I.G: @readers.lounge)

I am heart broken right now, I mean how could Tendai Huchu do this. I read this book with great hope but alas it didn't end the way I thought. In short i think i may have to reread the book, i definitely missed something.

I actually feel like slapping a couple of the characters,high on the list is that Alfonso and even Farai for been easily deceived.

Let me give you a little glimpse of the book, it is centered around 3 people (but believe me none of them are important)

The Maestro is a loner who loves reading, he is friendly at work but really he doesn't have any friend, on his quest to find the meaning of his existence, he falls into a deep depression. He stops going to work, gets rid of his personal belongings and hides in his world of books, soon even his books are not enough for him, he then burns them (I read that part with horror)

He becomes a bum and wonders about aimlessly, he later discovers the meaning of life but its too late.

The Magistrate, was once a big time judge in his country with all.the perks and all. Now he is in a foreign land and does the house chores while his wife works. Tired of the way his life is going he decides to get a job and his friend Alfonso (I rather be alone than have him as a friend) helps him get some menial work. One night he comes home and finds his daughter in an uncompromising position with her boyfriend. He is scarred for life, soon after she announced she is pregnant.

Both families meet up and come to some sort of agreement and she later gives birth to a baby girl who the Magistrate adores, all the shame and hurt are vanishing.

His friend Alfonso, convinces him to take up the leadership of one political party's branch in the country.

The Mathematician, I would have thought his character would be that of a nerd and loner, on the contrary he is very cheerful and lively, party goer and all. I liked his character (Tendai why did you do this, what did Farai do to you)

He should never have bought that story Alfonso told him, even I should have suspected but then again, the author made it look like it was nothing until it was too late.

I still can't get over the ending, I have so many questions:

• like will Alfonso ever be caught?

• What will happen to the magistrate now as he is been used even without knowing?

• Will Nika realise that the document is missing and become suspicious?

• Will the Magistrate become suspicious of Alfonso's disappearance?

• Who is Alfonso?

On a scale of 1-10, I give the book

1. 3 for playing with my feelings

2. 4 for treating characters badly

3. 10 for the plot twist at the end, it's been a while all my thoughts of a book had been shattered.

I also wished he had translated some local lingua that was used, I felt left out.

I enjoyed the book and I would definitely read another from the author but with eyes wide open, I am looking forward to that.

Good one Tendai