Structure

The book is divided into two parts. Part One, entitled “Flights,” follows a pair of narrative threads, both set in the past of the book’s central character, Deo (short for Deogratias). The first of these narrative threads follows Deo’s physical journey from Burundi to New York City, a journey that is also a psycho-emotional journey. As Deo moves from danger to safety, he moves from a place where it is risky for Deo to proclaim or reveal fundamental aspects of himself to a place where it is finally safe for him to be who he is. In other words, he moves from a place from having his actions defined mostly by courage in the face of fear into a place of having his actions defined mostly by courage motivated by a desire to help others.

The second narrative thread in Part One follows a journey...