Ada is born and reborn in a 15th century Ghanaian village, a world war 2 concentration camp and modern day London and Berlin. Her lives are linked by a bracelet and a narrator who embodies a door knocker, a hut and a passport - and who has a long running tussle with God to be born a human. Moving yet often funny, I loved the whole concept and originality of this debut novel and its progress through the centuries. God is brilliant!
Her behaviour surprised me, for Ada had already learned that all of us have always been here and that all of us will always be here. Until that which we call 'time' folds in upon itself and all but shatters. Until that which we call 'history' turns in on itself, and the so-called future begins anew. I found her forgetfulness inexplicable.
God squawked. It meant something along the lines of: You’re no better yourself! Remembering and forgetting go hand in hand. How often do I have to remind you?
Until I get to be human, too, I said.
