A review by booksgurrsandpurrs
The Scent of Burnt Flowers by Blitz Bazawule

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 In 1965, Bernadette and Melvin, two Black American Civil Rights Activists, travel from Philadelphia to Alabama when an incident occurs that dramatically shifts the trajectory of their lives. Now on the run, posing as a pastor/pastor's wife, Bernadette and Melvin seek refuge in Ghana with the hope of political protection by president Kwame Nkrumah. Folklore is gently woven into the narrative to great effect, but also in a way that reveals too easily the ending of the book then may have been intended. Bazawule, (Ghanaian filmmaker and author), asks the reader to consider what and where is home, why people keep secrets, what is safety in a postcolonial existence, what is the price of revenge and so much more.