SOURCE: "Looking for Betrayal," in Books in Canada, Vol. XXIV, No. 7, October 1995, pp. 35-37.

In the following review, Van Luven praises Thomas's exploration of new themes and subject matter in Coming Down from Wa, but finds the novel "not wholly satisfying."

A mystery lies at the heart of William Kwame MacKenzie's childhood years, and he is determined to solve it. And so Audrey Thomas's new novel trundles readers through the red soil of West Africa and the shifting sands of memory as William's trek of discovery labours through past and present.

The fully-fledged male protagonist found in Coming Down from Wa is a rare creation in Thomas's fiction, which usually focuses on female characters and women's perceptions of the world. In fact, on more than one occasion, critics have noted that male characters "do not come out very well" in Thomas land, as they are often presented as...