It's 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?
When Maya arrives, protesters surround the compound. The accuser is Lele, her former protégé and the chief's daughter. There are no witnesses, no proof of any crime.
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.
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 - and that dishonesty in one place affects the realities in another.
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'I have no idea how long I'll be gone' I say, stuffing clothes into a suitcase.- 1
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(@ecwpress, 11 April 2023, e-book, 280 pages, ARC from the publisher via @NetGalley)
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We Meant Well didn't really work for me and it made me mad at times. The premise of the story is bold and I was keen to see where the story went. I found Maya sympathetic but disliked almost everyone else in the book. The charity are more concerned with preserving their image than finding out the truth, protecting the local girl they are supposed to be helping and punishing Marc if he is guilty. They just wanted to sav themselves and Maya's eyes are really opened with regards to the charity she's devoted her life to. I also disliked the ending as you don't really find out the truth which ticked me off.