As in the other book I've read by this Congolese author, Life and a Half, time shifts, impossible things happen, and people are pulled by the needs of their bodies. I found this one almost as confusing, just as satiric, and not quite as powerful.

The story begins in Valancia, the former capital (of the country, region?) when the murder of a woman is predicted and then happens. The police, who have to come from the inland capital town, Nsanga-Norda, never arrive -- for 47 years. After the woman, Estina Benta, is killed by her husband, the Lorsa Lopez of the title, lots of other bizarre things happen, including other murders and deaths, but the reader also sees the life of the community and how it struggles for its identity and power. There is a hint of global politics, because the economic life of the nation has been affected by an affront to the US, which has resulted in there being no market for its pineapple crop, and because various European scientists are examining fossils (?) in various rocks and cliffs to try to identify the ancestors of humans. To complicate matters Sony Lab'ou Tansi (a pen name) writes in a dense allusive prose, although he can often be funny.

If I step back and try to look at the themes the author is exploring, I would have to say the big ones are identity, pride, and power, or the lack of it (the coast versus inland, Valencia versus Nsanga-Norda, "Christians" versus Muslims, the responsibilities of members the Founding Line), women versus men (very strong female characters for a male writer -- the women are the heart of the book), and, love, humanity, and respect for our fellow humans. Nonetheless, I was mystified for most of the book.

Tansi's book reads like 'Catch-22' crossed with 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'. It is a darkly comic journey through a fictional isolated town in Congo (Valancia). When a parrot reveals that Lorsa Lopez's wife has an ill-gotten dose of pubic lice, Lopez murders her, setting into motion a chain of events which result in the rise to power of the fearsome Estina Bronzario. Her battles are against the men of Valancia, as well as the influence of the Islamic capital city (Nsanga-Norda) and the imposition of beaurocracy. The book touches on issues such as as racial divides and male/female roles. It is a little surreal and allegorical in places, so someone (like me) with no knowledge of society or politics in the Congo can get a bit lost in places. The book is, however, brilliantly written and very, very funny. In his foreword, Tansi describes the book as 'going in search of man' and the humanity of the work shines through throughout.