"Unsparing and compassionate ... A novel of harrowing eloquence, We
Meant Well explores compelling cultural contrasts and the ambiguity of
charitable outreach." -- Foreword Reviews
A propulsive debut that grapples with timely questions about what it
means to be charitable, who deserves what, and who gets the power to
decide
It's the middle of the night in Los Angeles when Maya, a married mother
of one, receives the phone call. Her colleague Marc has been accused of
assaulting a local girl in Likanni, where they operate a charitable
orphanage. Can she get on the next flight?
When Maya arrives, protesters surround the compound. The accuser is
Lele, her former protégé and the chief's daughter. There are no
witnesses, no proof of any crime.
What happened that night? And what will happen to the orphanage if this
becomes a scandal? Caught between Marc and Lele, the charity and the
villagers, her marriage and new temptations, and between worlds, Maya
lives the secret contradictions of the aid worker: there to serve the
most deprived, but ultimately there to govern.
As Maya feels the pleasures, freedoms, and humanity of life in Likanni,
she recognizes that her American life is inextricably woven into this
violent reality -- and that dishonesty in one place affects the
realities in another.
