Book Review: Lonely Heart

Title: Lonely Heart

Author: Vida Li Sik

Date: 2020

Quote: "Admit it. Having a former jailbird by your side cramps your business style."

Savanna was an impulsive, aggressive girl when she caught her boyfriend (for two years, a boyfriend) in bed with another woman. She didn't intend to kill him but she screeched that she did while whacking him with her esgrima stick. He was fit to go into court and testify against her. Meanwhile, her being on trial for attempted murder had left her mother "hysterical" and triggered a fatal heart attack for her stepfather, and her guilt had left Savanna so depressed she didn't even want to talk to the lawyers her parents had hired. She felt that she belonged in prison since she'd killed a stepfather who had felt like a father to her. She spent five years in prison. 

Now she's out, but she's insecure about what people will do if they find out where she's been during the five years she wasn't posting anything on Facebook. (Yet another good reason not to use that site.) She's grown up, but she's not had much practice being an adult. So she feels so insecure about meeting an important contact for her brother's business that, seeing him and his ex quarrel decorously in a bar, she gets drunk and goes home with him for the night. 

Well, that's an unusual way to begin a romance. I wonder whether something like it even happened in real life? Anyway, Savanna and Alex have bonded, although they were too drunk even to have sex and just fell asleep in their clothes on that first night. It's a sweet romance; you know where this must lead.

Vida Li Sik has written specifically Christian books, and this one explores a Christian theme, but the religious aspects of forgiveness and reconciliation are kept in the background. There are passing references to God, to doing the right thing, and to Savanna's being tempted to consult a traditional spiritualist in an effort to communicate with her stepfather. (Well, this is Africa; the main characters are South Africans who, for various reasons, meet in Cote d'Ivoire.) The story does not specify the characters' religious affiliation. Unbelievers can read this book without fear.

US and UK readers should also enjoy the Ivorian atmosphere. I think the glossary translates more French and British words than needed translating--does anyone not know that Monsieur is the equivalent of Mr.?--but I suppose Amazon demanded that so that people could read the book using translation software.  Vida Li Sik acknowledges the dangers (a character comes down with malaria) while piquing readers' interest in scenic landscapes, modern cities, and a rich diversity of ancestral cultures. 

A final delight is the resolution of Savanna's :depression." Depression is a symptom of more kinds of health problems than not. (There are some disease conditions that produce euphoria; increased immune system activity associated with beating off disease germs can provide a "high.") Savanna, we're told, picked up some serious eating problems and some post-traumatic stress, and she'd be unusually lucky if infectious diseases couldn't be added to the list, in prison. It happens. Savanna's depression is no longer overwhelming but it's a persistent little reminder that she needs to pay attention to those other things. Those conditions are not addressed by serotonin boosters, which apparently didn't even give Savanna the intended "high" but probably left her with yet another imbalance. So the author blesses her with a doctor who may not be familiar with Prozac Backlash but does know that depression is a complicated symptom, that Savanna can't just pop a pill and feel better, that she will need to work through her real health problems one day at a time. We need more of this message in pop culture; 

(No, the paragraph above was not censored out of the Goodreads review. I didn't write it in. I was thinking something like "Unusual plot, fresh setting, Christian themes in a secular story anyone can read, that's three things to like." So I posted the review, but it felt unfinished, and after a few hours I recognized what needed to be added.)