The Brightest Sun

The Brightest Sun
Adrienne Benson

‘Heartbreaking and hopeful.’Joanna LuloffA powerful and moving debut surrounding three women’s quest for home.Leona, an isolated American anthropologist, gives birth to a baby girl in a remote Maasai village and must decide how she can be a mother, in spite of her own grim childhood.Jane, a lonely expat wife, follows her husband to the tropics and learns just how fragile life is.Simi, a barren Maasai woman, must confront her infertility in a society in which females are valued by their reproductive roles.Three very different women grapple with motherhood, recalibrate their identities and confront unforeseen tragedies and triumphs in this brilliant debut novel.Readers love Adrienne Benson:“this book is a compelling read for all sons, daughters, siblings, and parents”“The story was captivating!”“Highly recommend!”“I floated away to Africa”“The story is engrossing. I loved this book!”“Mesmerizing!”“Amazing. Brilliant. Unforgetteable.”“beautifully written with inventive imagery”

An illuminating debut following three women in sub-Saharan Africa as they search for home and family

Leona, an isolated American anthropologist, gives birth to a baby girl in a remote Maasai village and must decide how she can be a mother, in spite of her own grim childhood. Jane, a lonely expat wife, follows her husband to the tropics and learns just how fragile life is. Simi, a barren Maasai woman, must confront her infertility in a society in which females are valued by their reproductive roles. In this affecting debut novel, these three very different women grapple with motherhood, recalibrate their identities and confront unforeseen tragedies and triumphs.

In beautiful, evocative prose, Adrienne Benson brings to life the striking Kenyan terrain as these women’s lives intertwine in unexpected ways. As they face their own challenges and heartbreaks, they find strength traversing the arid landscapes of tenuous human connection. With gripping poignancy, The Brightest Sun explores the heartbreak of loss, the struggle to find a sense of belonging and the surprising ways we find our family and home.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (#u6bc1c600-0171-5272-bc10-cf3339fdf132)

ADRIENNE BENSON’s earliest memories include roasting green mangoes over bonfires in Lusaka, Zambia; climbing walls to steal guavas from the neighbors; and riding in the back of a VW van for weeks on end, watching her mom and dad navigate African border crossings and setting up campsites among thieving monkeys and vocal lions. A USAID worker’s daughter, she grew up traversing sub-Saharan Africa, finding homes in Zambia, Liberia, Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire. At sixteen, she made the hardest border crossing of all—the one that brought her “home” to America—a country she barely knew. She’s been a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, lived in Ukraine and Albania, slept in more airports than she can count and is now happily ensconced in Washington, DC, with her three kids. Her writing has appeared in Buzzfeed; the Foreign Service Journal; Brain, Child; the Washington Post; the Huffington Post; ADDitude magazine; and several anthologies. The Brightest Sun is her first novel.

The Brightest Sun

Adrienne Benson

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018

Copyright © Adrienne Benson 2018

Adrienne Benson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © March 2018 ISBN: 9781474083638

My parents, who cracked the world open for me so stories could spill out. My brother, who somehow made them all seem funny. And TCKs everywhere, who grow wild in the spaces between. This is for you.

Contents

Cover (#u37ced13a-db28-5873-80da-5ad4bddc1056)

Back Cover Text (#u8c550c45-492d-5886-bae9-bcb8a116268d)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (#u2f3f0342-5f57-5901-9c4f-823ffb01704b)

Title Page (#ueca32df8-64a3-5c4c-99fe-3036a940d93e)

Copyright (#u8f4c3bac-6c09-531d-b71c-04b6686cfe58)

Dedication (#ua97d9c9f-a4b0-55a8-99fe-470a7258cc66)

PART I (#u80e57316-3267-59c3-8300-e7ec985941e5)

FROM A DIFFERENT TRIBE (#u55c08c2d-3b05-52ef-a7f8-20af2a4eb816)

A WOMAN LIKE A WILDERNESS (#uf176e5ce-4380-56b8-b1ec-495dc53ad7b8)

WATER IN A DRY PLACE (#u33cd6cb5-9180-55f8-846c-4887590d9ac0)

NAROK (#litres_trial_promo)

JUJU (#litres_trial_promo)

GOD IS THE RAIN, GOD IS THE SKY (#litres_trial_promo)

CHILDREN BECOME THEMSELVES (#litres_trial_promo)

SOLAI VALLEY (#litres_trial_promo)

CHILDREN ARE THE BRIGHT MOON (#litres_trial_promo)

THE BAOBAB IN SOLAI (#litres_trial_promo)

PART II (#litres_trial_promo)

KHAMSA (#litres_trial_promo)

RIPTIDE (#litres_trial_promo)

NAKURU (#litres_trial_promo)

FOREST OF THE LOST CHILD (#litres_trial_promo)

JACARANDA (#litres_trial_promo)

BUFFALO (#litres_trial_promo)

GIRL IN THE SHAPE OF AFRICA (#litres_trial_promo)

PART III (#litres_trial_promo)

MOFFAT’S WIFE (#litres_trial_promo)

A ZEBRA TAKES ITS STRIPES WHEREVER IT GOES (#litres_trial_promo)

CAPTIVITY (#litres_trial_promo)