Harare Review of Books

368 pages.

To be published on 5 Oct 2021.

Finished reading on 17 Sept 2021.

Genre: Fiction.

Supplied blurb: An unusual epistolary novel of lost love, mystic fantasy, and the search for meaning in life, wrapped up in a world-wide travel log of people and places.

While on a business trip to Cambodia, a man is given a package of letters by a mysterious elderly woman. All of the letters are addressed to someone in Mexico City named, Conceição and are return addressed to locations all over the world. What the businessman finds within the letters, is the love story of a man named Vasco, in his early thirties, who has decided to recount the story of his life to his first love Conceição, whom he lost many years earlier.

At first, it is evident that Vasco seeks closure, and to rid himself of an emptiness he’s felt since Conceição’s departure. But, as one letter turns into dozens, the correspondence becomes a journey itself describing not only his desolation, but his life and adventures as well.

As Vasco travels the world remorseful over his lost love, he begins to have strange visions of the future along with haunting dreams of a girl named Sok Meta. Continuing his journey, Vasco becomes convinced that Sok Meta is real and that she is his one, true soul mate. Consumed with passion and longing, Vasco seeks out Sok Meta, only to find that he must undertake one last, desperate leap of faith before he can know the meaning he has long sought and be with his one true love, Sok Meta.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Incorgnito Publishing Press for this ARC.

Here’s an unusual book, a series of letters to a former love: a mix of literary fiction, travel fiction, and ghost stories. I did find it slow going at first (I was annoyed by the failure of the narrator to get to the point), but I gradually got into the rhythm of it. My favourite parts were the travel bits — a rare travelogue, sensitive to local culture and people. I also enjoyed the stories about various relationships. Towards the end, the narrator starts to fall apart, and things get both weird and traumatic.

Content warnings for graphic violence and death in the last quarter or so of the book, with descriptions of the activities of the Khmer Rouge (so traumatic I skipped most of those pages). Also a warning about writing about mental health and suicide. These particular topics made me very uncomfortable, and while they were important to the story, I would not have read the book if I’d realised beforehand.

The premise of the book, however, is interesting, and the structure and execution are also worth reading the book for. If you don’t mind the content mentioned above, a worthwhile read.

Rated: 5/10