Introduction

(A lyrical and captivating mystery that brings to life the majesty and charm of Ghana---from the capital city of Accra to a small community where long-buried secrets are about to rise to the surface.

Book Description
Lyrical and captivating, Kwei Quartey's debut novel brings to life the majesty and charm of Ghana?from the capital city of Accra to a small community where long-buried secrets are about to rise to the surface.

In a shady grove outside the small town of Ketanu, a young woman?a promising med student?has been found dead under suspicious circumstances. Eager to close the case, the local police have arrested a poor, enamored teenage boy and charged him with murder. Needless to say, they are less than thrilled when an outside force arrives from the big city to lead an inquiry into the baffling case.

Detective Inspector Darko Dawson, fluent in Ketanu's indigenous language, is the right man for the job, but he hates the idea of leaving his loving wife and young son, a plucky kid with a defective heart. Pressured by his cantankerous boss, Dawson agrees to travel to Ketanu, sort through the evidence, and tie up the loose ends as quickly and as efficiently as possible. But for Dawson, this sleepy corner of Ghana is rife with emotional land mines: an estranged relationship with the family he left behind twenty-five years earlier and the painful memory of his own mother's sudden, inexplicable disappearance. Dawson is armed with remarkable insight and a healthy dose of skepticism, but these gifts, sometimes overshadowed by his mercurial temper, may not be enough to solve this haunting mystery. In Ketanu, he finds that his cosmopolitan sensibilities clash with age-old customs, including a disturbing practice in which teenage girls are offered by their families to fetish priests as trokosi, or Wives of the Gods.

This is a compelling and unique mystery, enriched by an exotic setting and a vivid cast. And Inspector Darko Dawson?dedicated family man, rebel in the office, and ace in the field?is one of the most appealing sleuths to come along in years.

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Kwei Quartey on Ghana and Wife of the Gods

Wife of the Gods, a novel, is set in Ghana, where I grew up. It is a land of great disparities: privilege and disadvantage, wealth and poverty, high education and illiteracy. There is also a mixing of cultures that may sometimes clash. For example, contemporary, ?westernized? medical practice contrasts with traditional healing in which treatments combine lotions and potions with the invocations of the gods, the warding off of curses, and the neutralizing of perceived witchcraft.

In Wife of the Gods, these cultural webs are woven into a murder mystery. The book title itself conjures up in the mind the connection of the physical, tangible world with a realm in which gods dwell. For some in Ghana, the two coexist in everyday life. In the story, a young woman is murdered and protagonist Inspector Darko Dawson soon discovers that some people believe the death is the work of a curse from the gods, or of witchcraft. Darko is a detective. It's his job to be skeptical, but as he tries to sort through these claims on the path to the shocking truth, his mettle is truly tested.

The belief in the supernatural comes to involve Darko in a personal way. His son, Hosiah, suffers from congenital heart disease. The boy's grandmother, and the traditional healer to whom she takes him, both believe that evil spirits are occupying the boy's chest and causing his symptoms.

A physician myself, I would have a well-packaged medical explanation of the mechanism of the Hosiah's illness, but the evil spirits theory seeks to clarify the why as well as the how. Wearing my writer's hat, I examine these supernatural notions with curiosity and fascination, realizing that it is as difficult to prove that curses and evil spirits do not exist, as it is to prove they do.

It's been popularly said that once you?ve been in Ghana, you can?t get Ghana out of you. Wife of the Gods is infused with the flavor of the place, the sights and smells, the traditions of drumming, dancing and libation pouring and the disparities of life that I took for granted as I was growing up in Ghana. Those disparities are rich material for the telling of a mystery story.?Kwei Quartey

(Photo © Steve Monez)

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Excerpt

PROLOGUE

The forest was black and Darko was afraid to enter. The trees, covered from apex to root with dry, sloughing scales, beckoned him with their crackling branches. The forest floor erupted into a cloud of dust as the gnarled, ragged tree roots burst from the earth and turned into massive, thrashing limbs. Swaying, the trees began to lumber toward Darko. He wanted to escape, but terror paralyzed him. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came.

“Don’t be frightened, Darko.”

He recognized his Mama’s voice at once. Relief swept through him and rendered him light and free. Joy swelled in his chest and knotted in his throat as he saw Mama emerge from the shadows. She walked toward him as if floating, her head held high in the assurance that she would allow nothing to harm her boy.

She held out her hand. “Come along. It’s all right.”

Her palm softly and completely cocooned his. He looked up. She smiled down at him, her eyes deep and warm and liquid. She was strong and beautiful. He loved the touch of her hand and the scent of her skin.

And she took him into the musty forest of putrefying trees. The forest floor was carpeted with ashen leaves and brittle twigs that snapped und erfoot. For a moment, the trees stopped moving and let Darko and his Mama pass through like ghosts.

“You see?” she said. “They can’t trouble us because we’re not afraid of them.” 

One of the trees moaned loudly – a wrenching sound, full of the pain of approaching death. Roots flailing, its bulbous trunk took on a distorted likeness of Darko’s Papa, eyes cruel and mouth bitter as quinine. Darko shied away but Mama held him fast.

“No, Darko, you can’t go back now. I’ve led you here to find the truth. I want you to find it.”

“I’m scared to go on, Mama.”

“Why, Darko?”

“What if the truth is more terrible than the forest?”

At that very instant, his hand slipped from hers. She faded away, and in the void she left, there was no answer. The Papa Tree, suddenly luminous in the darkness, floundered in the soil as it lurched closer.

“Mama?” His reaching hand touched empty space. “Mama, where are you?”

Darko turned in circles, straining his eyes to see, but Mama had vanished. The trees grunted, scrabbling at the ground to gain traction as they closed in.

Darko Dawson, the boy, cried out. “Mama!”

Darko Dawson, the man, cried out. Gasping, soaked in sweat, he sat bolt upright in bed. “Mama?”

The room flooded with light and he cringed, expecting to see the hideous trees closing in. He felt arms wrapping around him and he tried to fight them off.

“The trees,” he said. “The trees.”

“No trees,” Christine said. “No trees. Just me. In the bedroom, here with you.”

His wife held him and wiped the sweat from his brow. He sighed deeply and let the tension go as he leaned against her.

“The dream was different from before,” he whispered.

“Was it?”

He nodded. “This time, Mama was there in the forest with me. She’s calling for me, Christine. I know she is. She wants me to find her. She’s ready for me now.” view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

1) WIFE OF THE GODS is written by Kwei Quartey, a man. Does he portray Ghanaian women in a strong and positive light?
2) At one point in the story, Christine, the wife of the protagonist Darko Dawson, accuses him of being "male supremacist." Do you feel that was a fair accusation?
3) Detective Darko Dawson has several contrasting character traits. One of them is an explosive temper in certain situations. What accounts for this? Does that make him less likeable?
4) Arguments for and against the still-existing traditional practice of†Trokosi are presented in the book, the opposing side asserting that it is indentured servitude or even slavery, the proponents insisting that it is an age-old solution for crimes committed. What is your view?
5) Darko loved his aunt Osewa, yet he had not visited her in 25 years. Does that seem odd? What do you believe is the reason for the long absence?
6) Some reviews of WIFE OF THE GODS say there is humor in the novel. Do you agree? What humorous moments struck you?
70) Did you feel you learned anything about Ghana in this novel? What did you find remarkable, if anything?
8) How would you describe the dynamic between Darko, Christine, and Gifty, her mother?
9) Do you feel Gifty was genuinely concerned about her grandson, Hosiah, or was she just self-serving?
10) Townsfolk accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. How do you feel about that?
11) What were your feelings about Togbe Adzima, the priest, and how did you feel about the act committed against him by Efia, one of his wives?
12) Do you suspect there was a love affair between Isaac the healer and Gladys, the victim?
13) Were you surprised by the ending of the book?

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