In the 1960s, Samuel and his wife Maud live in Calgary, Alberta. They had immigrated from Ghana (or the Gold Coast, as it was called when they lived there when younger, and as they still call it). When Samuel’s uncle (in small town Alberta) dies and leaves his house and land to Samuel, he up and moves his family (they also have twin daughters) to this small town. The twins are 12 or 13-years old and bring their “friend” (really, an acquaintance, as they don’t really have friends), Ama, with them for the summer while her parents are in France.

This was pretty slow-moving, but it was better than I expected. I didn’t like the first book I read by this author (can’t currently recall the title), but I decided to give this a try, anyway. Wow, those twins… something a little (a lot) wrong in their heads. Did not like the twins at all. In fact, none of the characters were particularly likable (oh, Ama’s likable, but that’s about it; felt really bad for her, actually). But the story was ok, better than expected. ( )

The story of a Caribbean immigrant to Canada and his family who gradually lose their way as the adolescent confusion of Samuel's twin daughters turns inward toward destruction. ( )

An unusual novel about a Ghanaian/Canadian family that seeks a second chance for themselves in a small rural town in Alberta, Canada.

Esi Edugyan is the talented daughter of Ghanaian parents who grew up in Alberta, Canada. Samuel Tyne, the main character in her first book, is also from Ghana and has lived in Canada for years. His story is not that of a new immigrant, but he has been deeply shaped by his African childhood. Like immigrants in other stories, he believes in his own special destiny and is susceptible to shame and guilt over not doing right by the uncle who raised him or by his family back in Africa. When he unexpectedly receives word that he has inherited a house from that uncle, he quits his unfulfilling civil service job and moves his reluctant family to a tiny town in Alberta. Rather than giving him a chance to live up to what he sees as his potential, the events that follow result in new shame and confusion for him. Focusing on the little known experience of Africans coming to Canada, Edugyan tells a story that touches all of us who have failed to accomplish what others dreamed for us and have turned inward to avoid more immediate responsibilities.

The Second Life of Samuel Tyne is a complicated book, with numerous subplots and unresolved mysteries. I find it hard to review, unsure if the confusion is an intentional reflection of Tyne’s understanding or if it is the flaw of a new novelist trying to do too much. Either way, my view of the book fluctuated widely as I read. At times Edugyan is a clear master of the written word. The novel is full of perfect phrases and sentences that make a chill run up your back. Her characters and plot are somewhat strange, but not in an alienating way. Tyne is a fully developed character, but one clearly intent on limiting what he is willing to see. Although the book is not written in first person, readers see everything from his perspective. He is a surprisingly insular person, closing himself off from his wife and twelve-year-old twin girls. The result is that Tyne’s wife and daughters appear as flat annoyances, not real people with personal needs of their own. When the twins slip into sullen resistance and silence, we can only guess the causes. When they appear dangerous and evil, we have no way of knowing why, but their descent lies at the core of the story, expressed as: how can Ghanaians, brought up to value family, behave like this?
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I thought the characters in this story were so strange that they were difficult to relate to. Even so, I found myself pulled in...a little like a "rubber necker" slowing down to stare at an accident. Eventually, I was surprised to find myself very empathic to many of the characters, whether I liked them or not. ( )