Separated by thousands of miles and more, two troubled women undertake epic flights from danger, marked by curious similarities. Meena flees an assassination attempt in India by planning to cross the Trail, a “Blue Energy” bridge that spans the Arabian Sea. In performing this illegal and dangerous act, she hopes to enter Ethiopia and find out who killed her parents. Mariama flees slavery as a child, joining a caravan bound for Ethiopia as well. She comes under the wing of a woman she calls Yemaya. Each of these women are recovering from trauma - there is something that they are not telling us. The journeys build to a compelling series of shocking revelations and conclusions.
The setting is rich, incorporating the cultures of India and Africa in the near future. Tantalizingly attainable aspects of the future are peppered throughout; things like automated cabs, inclusive legislation, perfect birth and STI control, universal translation devices, and the very Road that Meena walks. It inhabits and flavors the world, but does not overwhelm it. This isn’t the classic science fiction, with lasers and spaceships. It’s the more contemplative breed found in the worlds of Ursula K. LeGuin. The flexibility of the genre creates a particularly intriguing locale in which to place an essentially human journey.
Byrne has a great sense of literature. The joy in this book is in the journey, in learning new details to slowly uncover a more accurate portrait of the world’s reality. Even if you don’t like every aspect of the characters presented - and you won’t - the slowly unraveling story of the past made it well worth the investment for me.
This is one of those novels that’s hard to talk about without spoilers, and spoilers would harm the expertly crafted narrative. Meena and Mariama were exceedingly well-developed, and their story arcs were perfect, but the actions of a couple of important side-characters seemed off-the-mark. We were left with a massive disruption to the setting that, though it wasn’t without foreshadowing, felt disconnected from the action of the novel. While I applaud Byrne for using non-western characters, I do wonder how their often-unflattering depictions are perceived in the cultures of Africa and India. Despite these misgivings, the well-scripted discovery of the plot made this an excellent read.
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