Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo

The book, a Reese Witherspoon pick, is about a fiftysomething mixed race protagonist, Anna Bain. She is a Welsh-Bamanian (Bamana is Onuzo’s fictional west African state) who lives in London, and has a life time of belonging nowhere--she is constantly confronting notions of difference and belonging. After Anna's mother, who raised her, dies, Anna uncovers a diary in her mother's belongings that was written in the late 1960s and belonged to Francis Aggrey. Aggrey was a student from the fictional Diamond Coast; while studying in London, he became part of a set of young African scholars agitating for their native countries’ freedom from colonial rule. Through excerpts from these diaries, the plot rapidly delivers us to Anna’s discovery that Aggrey is her father. After his studies, Aggrey returned to his homeland. There he transformed himself into a revolutionary who became the first president of the newly independent Bamana – a country that bears more than a passing resemblance to Ghana. The novel briskly tracks Anna’s wrestling with feelings of abandonment and loss, and follows her literal and figurative journey to try to connect with her father. It is quietly thought provoking, which for me is a hallmark of the Reese picks. I continue to enjoy her picks and working my way toward 100% completion.