Tanzania, 1956. A Maasai woman gives birth to a child with albinism. The child is seen as a curse upon her tribe, and so begins Pó's tumultuous story. As Pó navigates the world, she must claim her life in the face of violence and ostracism.

Further south, in Portuguese-controlled Mozambique, Ezequiel struggles for acceptance too. Adopted by missionaries, he is not recognized by his Portuguese father's community, or by his Makonde mother's tribe. When civil war erupts, he must choose who to fight for and who to leave behind.

Pó and Zeca come together in a time of momentous change. Love connects these two outsiders, forcing them to confront the shattering impact of colonialism and war. Children of the Moon is a stunning and unforgettable exploration of the love of two people at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. (From Doubleday Canada)

"My own family's struggle was one that was set in a very different part of the world, which was the colonial wars in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau in the early 1970s. My uncle had just returned from three years of his mandatory military service in Guinea-Bissau — a war that was lost before it even began. He went there at 19 and he came home three years later feeling completely lost. He was a broken man. He just wasn't okay. I don't know how else to describe it. We weren't allowed to talk about it so it definitely caused a lot of stress in our family, as I think all secrets do.

"I remember clearly one day walking into the living room and my three uncles were sitting there. I asked them if they could tell me something about their experiences in the wars. They didn't respond. So I pressed it again with another question and one of them told me that I really didn't want to know. It just wasn't something that we talked about. They weren't going to tell me their story. I quickly surmised that it wasn't just what they experienced in those conflicts, it was also what they participated in."