82 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL A Rookie in Africa Wisdom and the Baobab Tree Edward McMahon, Dewart Imprints, 2024, $15.99/paperback, e-book available, 300 pages. Reviewed by Niels Marquardt In his gripping first novel, Wisdom and the Baobab Tree, Edward McMahon—a professor at the University of Vermont, international development consultant, former Foreign Service officer, and, full disclosure, longtime friend of mine since our days together in 1980s Brazzaville— reminds us of the now quaint notion of America promoting democracy abroad, especially in Africa. McMahon builds his plot on the foundation of his years of experience as a practitioner of democracy promotion, first as an FSO and later with groups like the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Carter Center, to give Baobab real credibility. Reading it is a pleasurable way to learn in some detail how these and other organizations developed and practiced their particular tradecraft over many decades. The current moment is a particularly appropriate time to remind ourselves of this valuable American expertise so that we might cherish and protect it from the depredations of those now trying to kill Voice of America and USAID. McMahon’s main protagonist, Adam Edwards, is an idealistic young American fresh out of Dartmouth who improbably lands a job overseas—a job for which he is very enthusiastic and well intended, but not particularly qualified. He leaves the United States to start up country operations for an NDI-like organization in a thinly disguised West African nation called Kombonia. Adam’s new home is experiencing real democratic growing pains and accompanying strife, and we soon meet a cast of colorful local characters, some keen to move smartly ahead toward more inclusive governance, others determined to preserve the status quo and their own power. Kombonia has the distinct air of 1990s Africa, after a tsunami of democracy triggered by the fall of the Berlin Wall swept the continent, with mixed results in the many countries it struck. Indeed, I was transported back to my own experiences in Africa, and to many of the characters that made those times so interesting. Adam makes all the rookie mistakes one might imagine, drawing the ire of seasoned diplomats like the “old Africa hand,” a USAID mission director whose budget is funding much of Adam’s work. There are the usual tensions between headquarters and the field as Adam struggles to decide the best way forward for his nascent program, feeling the pressure of expectations, deadlines, budgets, and impatience from Washington. Eager to experience the finer points of local culture, he bonds with a seductive Kombonian woman, only to find out that her main role is to keep a sharp eye on him and to report on his activities to a powerful political leader. Let’s just say that their liaison ends badly. Adam also tries to navigate the complexities of tribal rivalries within a mosaic of different languages and cultures, and of course falls far short in that difficult task as well. The main African characters in the novel come off well, showing their savvy in manipulating outsiders’ admirable intentions to improve their country and its political structure. The reader senses the delicate balance one must maintain to promote the growth of democracy while navigating the complex hierarchical structures in which they operate. McMahon shows a deep grasp of African sensibilities as he describes the interpersonal forces at work among his main African characters. His depiction of the inner thinking of Kombonia’s embattled president, who hails from a minority tribe and thus sits precariously atop a political powder keg, is particularly insightful. When Adam connects with an American woman working with the Peace Corps in Kombonia, she dispassionately schools him in the realities of his situation and mission. This love interest creates some believable complexity as Adam tries to chart a path forward for both his personal and professional life. Baobab, which at times seems headed toward a cynically negative ending, concludes delightfully on a hopeful note, mainly because of the African characters’ unsuspected skill at managing their own affairs. This is somewhat at odds with the actual experience in the 1990s in many African countries that initially embraced the democratic wave of that era, but in 2025 it’s probably much closer to what we all would like to read. This is a book that manages to instruct while also entertaining. Whether you have spent years in Africa yourself and want to relive those days or just want to know what it might feel like to live and work there, this novel is for you. n Niels Marquardt is a retired Senior FSO and former ambassador to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea (concurrent), and Madagascar and the Comoros (concurrent). He has been diplomat in residence for Lewis and Clark College, his alma mater, since 2019.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=