A Journey Of Discovery

Drumbeats by Julia Ibbotson is a marvellous historical coming-of-age novel that completely enthralled me. It is the first book in the Drumbeats trilogy.

The novel is set in 1965-1966. It is the dawn of a new era. Travel is beginning to open up and there are new freedoms on the horizon for women. The 1960’s was a decade that brought choice.

We follow an eighteen year old girl on her gap year to Ghana. Here she teaches English to local girls. It is a year in which her eyes will be opened, new friendships formed and old traumas re-visited.

Travelling to small villages shows up the terrible poverty. Children are dying through lack of basic medication and no mosquito nets. Any aid given is a drop in the ocean but can make a difference.

Having been sheltered in England with a Quaker upbringing, the leading lady rapidly grows up in Ghana. She proves herself to be very capable and far wiser than her years.

The leading lady’s hometown is Birmingham but it is Ghana that speaks to her heart and soul as she hears the rhythm of the drums.