\u201cUnsparing and compassionate \u2026 A novel of harrowing eloquence,\u00a0<\/b>We Meant Well<\/i><\/b>\u00a0explores compelling cultural contrasts and the ambiguity of charitable outreach.\u201d \u2014\u00a0<\/b>Foreword Reviews<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
A propulsive debut that grapples with timely questions about what it means to be charitable, who deserves what, and who gets the power to decide<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u2019s the middle of the night in Los Angeles when Maya, a married mother of one, receives the phone call. Her colleague Marc has been accused of assaulting a local girl in Likanni, where they operate a charitable orphanage. Can she get on the next flight?<\/p>\n
When Maya arrives, protesters surround the compound. The accuser is Lele, her former prot\u00e9g\u00e9 and the chief\u2019s daughter. There are no witnesses, no proof of any crime.<\/p>\n
What happened that night? And what will happen to the orphanage if this becomes a scandal? Caught between Marc and Lele, the charity and the villagers, her marriage and new temptations, and between worlds, Maya lives the secret contradictions of the aid worker: there to serve the most deprived, but ultimately there to govern.<\/p>\n
As Maya feels the pleasures, freedoms, and humanity of life in Likanni, she recognizes that her American life is inextricably woven into this violent reality\u2014and that dishonesty in one place affects the realities in another.<\/p>\n