Ancestor Stones (43 page)

My daughter loves to play with them while I write and she waits for a moment of my attention. In her hands they rustle and click against one another. Yesterday she came into my room.

‘This is my favourite,' she said, holding up a stone roughly in the shape of a hexagon, smooth to the touch, but with a pattern of ripples. Then she gathered up all the stones, bent her head down over her cupped hands.

She remained that way for a long time until I asked: ‘What are you doing?'

‘Listen,' she beckoned me down.

I lowered my head to join her. ‘What is it?'

‘Listen to the noise they make,' she replied. ‘It sounds like they're talking.'

Many women from among my family and friends spent hours sharing their memories with me of how it was to live as a woman in our country's past. They know who they are. I promised not to reveal their names. Instead I offer them my wholehearted thanks.

My stepmother Yabome Kanu devoted an entire summer to teaching me to speak Temne. She has patiently answered a myriad of enquiries and attended to many details of the novel on my behalf. Mother, muse, unpaid researcher. I am indebted to her.

In addition I owe my thanks to:

My cousin Morlai Forna for his assistance in researching in the village of Rogbonko and surroundings. My friend and agent David Godwin, for believing in me, for listening to my dreams and helping to make them real. At Bloomsbury, my editor Michael Fishwick for his passion for these stories, thoughtful editing and commitment to this book over three years. Alexandra Pringle for her advice on the manuscript and remarkable energy. Rosalind Hanson-Alp for lunch, laughter and advice relating to the fauna of Sierra Leone.

Above all to my husband, Simon Westcott, to whom I owe so much happiness.

Aminatta Forna is a writer and divides her time between London and Sierra Leone. Her memoir,
The Devil that Danced on the Water
, was runner-up for the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2003. Her most recent novel,
The Memory of Love
, is shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2011.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

The Devil that Danced on the Water

The Memory of Love

Further praise for
Ancestor Stones

‘Forna is a writer of startling talent …
Ancestor Stones
is written in a sumptuous prose which makes it a delight to read. Virtually every page contains breathtaking descriptions … The writing is luminous … leaves an impression of immense joyfulness, a sense of delight and wonder. Conveying the human spirit's irrepressible love of life is the triumph of this magical book'
Daily Telegraph

‘A wonderfully ambitious novel written from the inside, opening up a particular society and delving deeply into the hearts, histories and minds of women'
Guardian

‘A dazzling storyteller, Forna vividly evokes the daily lives of African women and their brave attempt to alter their destiny'
Waterstone's Books Quarterly

‘She tells stories as she breathes … after putting down the book one feels one has inhabited their world and times … Forna is capable of a prose of soaring beauty'
The Times

‘A beautiful novel by a great writer who always gives you a sense that you are eavesdropping on whispered conversations'
Daily Ireland

‘Mesmeric, elegant prose … equally extraordinary and vibrant with sadness and joy … Forna beautifully describes the chafing confines and glorious freedoms of lives whose rich continuity is being gradually rent asunder'
Daily Mail

‘A masterclass in modern writing … Forna's is a beautifully constructed novel that merges voices from the past and present'
Works

‘Forna carries us through her novel with an enviable knack for storytelling'
Metro

‘An optimistic, truthful novel'
TLS

‘Heavy with myths and magic, it builds into a fascinating evocation of the experience of African women, and all that has been gained — and lost — with the passing of old traditions'
Marie Claire

Further praise for
Ancestor Stones

‘Forna's first novel spans continents and decades, piecing together a remarkable family history … the individual stories resonate with poignancy and strength'
Psychologies

‘It's the personal that makes this book so gripping'
Big Issue

‘As a novelist, Forna deftly controls what becomes an epic canvas'
Literary Review

‘An extraordinary book, wide-ranging and wildly inventive'
London Review of Books

‘This is a work of literature that reached as deeply into the being of a white male Anglo-Saxon card-carrying bloke as, I dare say, it would touch the heart of any woman … a beautiful book … she has re-kindled the dying embers of a much more precious art — that of listening'
Evening Standard

‘Vivid, graceful prose … Forna's tender, haunting novel is a celebration of the enduring power of such private narratives'
Sunday Telegraph

‘Forna's skill in this exuberantly imagined novel lies in pressing such words and images between pages without dulling their spirit'
Observer

‘Her book gains strength and conviction as it goes on and the unhappy history of Sierra Leone unrolls before us'
Sunday Times

‘A writer of delicacy and feeling, able to evoke a place and time with skill'
Scotsman

‘Captivating … A compelling plot, portraying hopes, ideas and dreams in a world that is slowly beginning to crumble … a thoughtful, provocative and magical work'
Skinnymag

‘This is a beautifully written novel that makes the heat and colour and pain of these women's lives come alive'
Irish Tatler

‘A magical tale of women, Africa, innocence and family … Forna is a true storyteller … This book is a rare treat and a triumph in narrative style'
Good Book Guide

First published in Great Britain 2006
Copyright © 2006 by Aminatta Forna
Family tree designed by Jennifer Newlin-Bell

This electronic edition published 2011 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

The right of Aminatta Forna to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Bloomsbury Publishing London New York Berlin Sydney

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 36 Soho Square, London W1D 3QY

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781408825969

www.bloomsbury.com/aminattaforna

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