Moon Witch, Spider King

Sogolon, now banished and living in a rain forest, has little memory of how she got there, except for the time she spent in Omororo, a city in the south lands. She wanders in the jungle, hoping for death, but instead, she finds a deserted house. She moves in, carves her days into digestible segments, and sleeps the months away. She sleeps once for an entire year, waking to the same dark world, still haunted by some unnamed past. She learns to survive in her environment, giving the larger animals their space and not disturbing anything or anyone. She even earns a grudging respect from a troop of gorillas after she saves one from drowning. They no longer chase her and guard her house instead.

Only when she ventures into the city of Marabanga, the seat of the southern kingdom, does she realize she’s been living in the jungle for five years. The city boasts grand structures—“egg-shaped obelisks temples, houses, palaces” (364)—but Sogolon has little interest in architecture or people. She returns to her jungle home, watching the years pass and seeing the beasts and their offspring live and die. When she gazes into the river, however, she sees her own reflection, a face untouched by time.