Gbessa

Gbessa is the novel’s central character and protagonist. Other characters, such as June Dey and Norman Aragon, play similarly significant roles in the development of the book’s themes, but for the most part, though, its primary plot and thematic focus is on Gbessa and her life. That life is explored in several stages, with Gbessa’s journey considered in terms of her being a cursed child, then a curious and courageous young woman, then a manipulated wife, and finally an empowered, invincible warrior.

As the narrative begins, Gbessa is portrayed as being on her way to exile when she is bitten by a snake. Its poison metaphorically represents the “poison” in the attitudes of the people in her African village who identified her as a witch. Eventually, and as a result of making connections with both nature and a pair of fellow exiles, Gbessa discovers a...