All Our Names

Book 23 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from February 15 - 28

All Our Names

by Dinaw Mengestu

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2014

A sweeping, continent-spanning story about the love between men and women, between friends, and between citizens and their countries, All Our Names is a transfixing exploration of the relationships that define us.

Fleeing war-torn Uganda for the American Midwest, Isaac begins a passionate affair with the social worker assigned to him. But the couple's bond is inescapably darkened by the secrets of Isaac's past: the country and the conflict he left behind and the beloved friend who changed the course of his life - and who sacrificed everything to ensure his freedom. 

My Opinion

3 stars

It took a minute for me to get settled in because the chapters are in first person and alternate viewpoints.  The ones with the heading 'Helen' made sense but the ones with the heading 'Isaac' didn' because they were written in first person but he talked about Isaac in the third person because he wasn't Isaac.  I figured that was the case but it wasn't explained until the end, yet it also can't really be a surprise or a spoiler since the chapters were set up that way from the beginning.

The story itself held my interest while I was reading (no small feat since I read the majority of it during a loud cheer competition) but I didn't think much about it when I was done.

Quote from the Book

"I thought eventually I would find a house or a street that seemed to have been made just for me. I think I have walked more miles than just about any man I know, and I have learned that if I were to walk every day for the rest of my life, I would never find such a place. That is nothing to be sad about. Many people have it worse. They dream of belonging to a place that will never have them. I made that mistake once."