Road to the Sea
Road to the Sea, Tim Schell's latest novel, though set in the Dark Continent, is not a journey into the heart of darkness but into the human spirit to endure and rise. As does life, the book shows us that the best of intentions do not always lead to the desired results and Jack Burke's good intentions and rash act triggers the run to the sea, an odyssey involving an improbable trio, Jack, an African prostitute, and a seventeen-year-old-daughter of an American missionary. Along the way Jack, Mari and Faith discover each other and themselves in unexpected ways, and always in the spirit of love-Jack the cynic finds an unexpected ability to love again, Faith learns the fullness of love for the first time, and Mari discovers that she can leave lost love and still carry forward in friendship. The journey is also an adventure into the land and social landscape of Africa and Schell's descriptions of the land, the people and the weather transport the reader into that world masterfully. This book belongs on the shelf and in readers' heads alongside Heart of Darkness, Out of Africa, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.
--H. Lee Barnes, author of The Gambler's Apprentice