I picked this up from Half Price Books while I was out Christmas shopping.

From the dust jacket:
'I WAS CURSED IN NATAL, IN 1884. I STOOD BY AS A BOY WAS BEATEN TO DEATH BY A MOB. HIS MOTHER CURSED US ALL BY TRUTH AND BY BLOOD, BUT THE SHADOW TOOK TO ME, AND WE HAVE BEEN TOGETHER SINCE.'

South Africa, 1884. William Abbey, an English doctor, watches white colonists lynch a Zulu child. As the boy dies, his mother curses William: wherever he goes, the shadow of her son will follow him. It will never stop, never rest. It can cross oceans and mountains. And if it catches him, the person he loves most in the world will die.

But to those in power, William's curse might be a blessing, and as the world slides towards war, William must decide what he's willing to sacrifice in order to survive.

As always, I enjoyed Claire North's writing... the stream of consciousness style worked very well with the truth-telling story. It was full of heartbreaking tales, both from the main characters and those who were just passers-by for half a sentence. My only problem is that there got to be too many characters by the end, but that was only an issue because I read this book over the course of several months, coming back to it when I had time.

I did like that it answered a question I've been wondering: Are Claire North's books set in the same universe? I wonder if she's planning a crossover story at some point.

I released this at Little Free Library #96865 and picked up Morality For Beautiful Girls.