'God punished the baobab for her gigantic and bloated arrogance and He tossed her in the air as some insignificant weed and he hurled her back onto the ground first, and that is why the baobab gropes with its roots towards Heaven and buries her head, arms and hands in the deep earth in shame...it is therefore fitting that she should abound in the Land of Shame and Suffering...' The title story is a symbolic reflection upon the war in Mozambique, its people abandoned to drought and floods. Other stories in this collection take us to Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. 'Purple Heart' tells the story of Selina Clarke, a thirteen year-old orphan and paraplegic, with both legs amputated above the knee; a deformed and disabled victim of one of Africa's civil wars. Kari Dako is Norwegian and lives in Ghana. Ama Ata Aidoo identifies the author and her writing thus: 'This collection of stories have Africa for a background; characters who are, or deal with matters Africa. What is important though is that they are excellent tales.'