In Uganda, Charity Ntambara and her uncle Geoffrey suffer indescribable horrors during the regime of Idi Amin, while half a world away, self-assured Irish-Mexican Stephen O’Connell escapes a small-town, checkered past to pursue education near San Francisco. There, fresh ideas-and people as diverse as brilliant anti-feminist Madeleine, the musical genius Bryce, and very earthy Julie Burns-pull his soul in opposing directions. ‘By chance’ he prevents the murder of a Ugandan refugee, catapulting him irrevocably into a world of need and danger.

Black-and-white thinking proves no help to Stephen upon encountering the blood-red reality of violence in East Africa some years later. He finds that he too has the capacity to harm others. When a case of mistaken identity nearly destroys his family, he must start afresh in a ‘civilized’ place where safety remains elusive. Friends and colleagues, as different as the four elements, all labor to make the world a better place. But in the end, who will succeed?

The Wrong Side of Eternity offers a deeply personal view of how people with very different perspectives respond to and deal with suffering. Comparable to The Poisonwood Bible and Th e Constant Gardener, Mary Mendenhall’s sweeping passion narrative depicts grim reality without giving in to hopelessness and despair.