Drumbeats

by Julia Ibbotson

[zooloo1983]

I do not know if there are any words in my dictionary that can describe how amazing and breathtaking this book truly is. I stepped out of my comfort zone reading this book and I have not looked back, words have failed me. I have been discussing this book with Kerry at Herding Cats and she is the same as me, we both loved and adored this book, but when it comes to writing the review we know that we could never do it any justice.

So in 1965 Jessamy, known as Jess wants to leave her Quaker school behind, defer her University application and put her life on hold to venture into the unknown and travel to Ghana where she wants to teach and nurse young girls in a local village.

I know I have said this before with the writing by authors, where you can imagine yourself right in the middle of the chaos, the love, the scenery, but you truly can with Ms Ibbotson writing. I was in that Ghanaian village, falling in love with everything, even the simplistic flat that Jess and her friend Sandra live in. I wanted to try the food, immerse myself in the culture and see the beauty and the real sights. Whilst, there is a lot of calm and happiness surrounding Jess, they are cut off from the outside world, a time before phones, where the only lines of communication back home were via a letter.

Contrasting this lightness, the exotic, is the harsh reality of the uprising against President Nkrumah, based on the facts of the Civil War, with Jess seemingly finding her life in danger, in the middle of the soldiers firing the weapons, will it just be her heart that is hurt?

The sounds of the drumbeats feature so heavily in this book, and I felt like I could hear their melody when reading this book, it was just so magical.

What I failed to remember during the story is that Jess is only 19! Everything that has happened to her and she’s not really an adult yet. She witnessed some horror in the neighbouring villages and just wants to help everyone. This girl has so much strength and light in her, that I am just in awe of her. She takes everything in her stride with such finesse I could only strive to have.

This introduction to the series is already so strong and has left me wanting more. I want to see Jess grow more into the strong formidable woman I know she will become if the end of the first book is to go by and I cannot wait to see where the next adventure will take us. I hope I have done this book a little bit of justice and that you take a chance on Jess as I have.