"Later, when she saw the plastic flowers in a kitchen cupboard, she was not surprised. Ugwu had saved them, the same way he saved old sugar cartons, bottle corks, even yam peels. It came with never having had much, she knew, the inability to let go of things, event things that were useless."
作者是英语文坛最有实力的40岁以下作家之一,备受非洲文学之父阿契贝赞赏。作品以尼日利亚内战(Biafran War 1967-1970)为大背景,透过五个主要人物的第三人称限制叙述,描写解殖之后的非洲社会乱象。对家童Ugwu的刻画最耐人寻味,他象征着在战火中觉醒的Igbo族和仅存3年的Biafra国。家童在故事结尾已经从13岁长大成人,其形象取材于作者父母的小家仆Mellitus,作者把这部小说献给他——“And to Mellitus, wherever he may be.” 很动人。弱点之一是弱化了战争的残酷。