A Great and Sad Story...A Must Read...

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2023

Legacy by Eileen Enwright Hodgetts pulled me in with the summary. Once I read the summary I knew right then and there that I had to read it. Legacy pulled me into its depths from the first page and kept me hanging on page after page.

Legacy is one of those stories that will pull all sorts of emotions from you. It is a sad story. It will also leave you with rage and heartbreak on many occasions throughout.

Sarah Jensen is very gifted. She finished high school early and graduated college by the time she was eighteen years old. There has been no time left for her to be a teenager. And Sarah wants nothing more than to be able to do that now if she so desires.

Sarah’s grandmother, Brenda takes her to Africa so she can learn more about her African ancestors. Brenda first went to Africa in 1963 and she expected it to be the same place as it was when she was there the first time when she met Sarah’s grandfather. But things have changed tremendously over the years.

Upon their arrival, Sarah meets Matthew a young boy that also happens to be her uncle. Matthew disappears and Sarah is determined to find him and bring him back. In the meantime, she learns about an American young man who was murdered. Then a baby is taken.

Sarah sets out to find out what happened to the young man and find the baby. She hopes that by investigating the young man’s death it will lead her to the baby and Matthew.

Can Sarah and her family find out who killed the American and find the baby and Matthew before it is too late? Where is Matthew? Where is the baby?

Sarah’s investigation takes her across Africa. She runs into some pretty bad people along the way. Her journey is a very dangerous one.

Grab a copy of Legacy today and follow Sarah across Africa!

I'm really not sure the tags I've put on this book adequately describe it.
I loved this book. In my opinion it's Eileen Enwright Hodgetts best book so far. I read it as an ARC reader and this is absolutely my honest opinion. We read about dangerous, ruthless warlords surrounded by child soldiers and girls who are kidnapped and raped in far off Africa, a world away - so much so that it can never touch us. But what about those caught up in the sheer terror of living in this world? Ms Hodgetts describes the environment and situation in Uganda at the time the book is set, so well I could feel it. I found it quite telling that the comfortably off American woman, an 80 year old still trying to be the free wheeling, careless hippy she was 60 years previously understands nothing of what is happening and repeatedly says, wistfully, that "This country isn't what it used to be" while the Irishman who lived through the troubles in Ireland understands and can feel the fear in the air. The aged hippy has taken her granddaughter to meet her grandfather, the African man she met and impulsively married during a drug fuelled, hedonistic road trip across Africa when she was a young girl herself, thinking to connect her to her African roots - the mother being the child of the marriage. The young American is irritating in that she would never stay put when she was told and got herself into trouble as a consequence - but if she didn't, there wouldn't have been as much of the story! One thing to take away from this book is the plight of the women, not only being captives but, like most of the people outside privileged compounds, having no choice but to drink filthy water that could kill them - just to stay alive. All of the characters in this book are extremely well drawn and the whole book well written, well researched and a really great read