"An old man and a young boy, refugees from a civil war, seek shelter in a burnt out bus. Among the belongings of a dead passenger, they discover a set of notebooks that tell of his life. As the boy reads the story to his elderly companion, the tale gradually becomes part of their own lives. Set in Mozambique, the book examines the effects of war and devastation on a newly independent African nation and reflects a period in the history of Mozambique when the country could only go forward after settling its account with the bloody past"--From publisher description.