In 1972, the president of Uganda orders the expulsion of all Ugandan-Asians within 90 minutes. As violence from locals and soldiers increase, and business suffers, newlyweds Asha and Pran as well as their family have to make the hard decision to leave even though this means potentially being separated by country.

I have read another book before about the expulsion order in Uganda against Asians, and I find it a fascinating albeit horrific moment in history - and similar to the previous book I read, in Kololo Hill I appreciated learning about a family's forced journey to another country and their bravery and love for one another pulling them through and the fortitude to begin again from nothing.

However, while I liked the history and some of the themes in the book as well as some of the family relationships - I found the pacing of the story suffered a little bit as well as what the author wanted us to really know or take away from the book. I thought the storyline about December was quite poor and pretty much went no-where other than to show Pran as slightly spineless. I think because this was one of the mysteries lying over the family, and a clear secret Pran was keeping I was expecting it to be a bit more dramatic.

Asha and Pran's marriage is also a focus in this novel as Asha changes away from Pran as she and the family move to England and she becomes a working woman, and gets her confidence back that the last months of Uganda erased. I also think that Pran never really came across well in the book - he was quite selfish in thinking his way was the only way for the family and he never really seemed to think much of Asha or Jaya's opinions.

I think vijaty had potgential and I would have liked to have spent more time with him, and see how he got on with his travels and his relationship with Mary which never seemed to be revealed to the family.

Jaya was the character I felt most drawn towards as we see her worry about all her family while mourning the loss of her husband, and for the second time uproot her home to learn a whole new language and culture.

I actually would have liked the whole timeline of this book to be changed, and have the Uganda section smaller so we could focus more on the lives of the family as they adapt to their new life. It felt like a book that would have benefitted to be very much character focused over plot, and one where the reader stays with the family for 50+ years through all the ups and downs to really foster a bond and get to know everyone inside out.