The Clouds Beneath the Sun

By Mackenzie Ford

Doubleday

ISBN: 978-0-385-52911-2

DNF

I began reading The Clouds Beneath the Sun by Mackenzie Ford and was very hopeful I would enjoy the book.  It was set in Kenya in the 1960s on an archeological dig.  The main character, Natalie Nelson, is a woman trying to escape her life in England, the suspicious death of her mother, a father who is blaming her for her mother’s death, and a failed love affair with a married man.  She lands in Kenya and is instantly taken in by a discovery in the gorge where the dig is taking place.  Shortly after the discovery, a colleague is murdered in the camp. Being the only person to see anything that night, Natalie gives testimony that will put her life, and the lives of her colleagues, in danger.  She also risks closing down the dig when tensions flare with the neighboring Maasai tribe who have granted permission for the dig to take place on their land.

The story began a bit slow but found its footing, and then somewhere between a new find and a love triangle, it faltered again.  I kept trying to find something of interest but it seemed as if I was watching the story take place in my peripheral vision instead of being invested in it.  I would pick up the book and after a few pages put it down again.  This went on for several days and then I began to realize that I was starting to write a DNF post in my head each time I looked at the book and that was when I decided it wasn’t going to work out.

Am I giving up entirely?  No, I’m not.  I think it was just the wrong time for this book.  It will go back to the library, but I plan to re-visit it in a few months and see how I feel about it then.