Summary

Preface – The book begins with a quote from a poem by William Wordsworth, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections in Early Childhood.” The first four lines are: “Though nothing can bring back the hour / Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower; / We will grieve not, rather find / Strength in what remains behind” (ix).

Author’s Note – “Out of what I hope is an excess of caution,” the author says, he has changed the names of several people and places (xiii).

Introduction – Burundi, June 2006. In first-person narration, the author describes driving with his companion, Deogratias (Deo) through the plains of Burundi in the shadow of a mountain called Ganza, which translates into “to reign” (xv). They stop so Deo can take pictures of the mountain, author Kidder commenting in narration how Deo must seem to be “a trim young black-skinned rich man...