Not what I expected, I was looking forward to a story about the 1980s in England, and that's part of the story but it's mostly about the Portuguese holding on to an empire in Africa. In the 1980's David is in England working for Hans & Elizabeth Bromwell, Hans is a quadriplegic and Elizabeth is his sister and has a daughter named Christina. The plot goes back and forth between the 1980s and the 1960s when Elizabeth moved to Africa after meeting a Portuguese doctor. The story is told from Elizabeth to David in the 1980s and through old letters Han's kept. It's a interesting story, but I felt I knew where it was going the entire time and when it was revealed it was just alright. Decent writing though just wish there was more to the story. ( )

Like many Americans, I’m woefully ill-informed about international politics, world history and geography. Therefore, it was a good thing I discovered the “Timeline” at the back of Jonathan Weissman’s thought-provoking novel, No. 4 Imperial Lane. This way, I went into the story knowing about the Salazar dictatorship in Portugal and the final years of that country’s colonization of Africa. I hate to admit it, but I’d never heard of Salazar and, heck, I didn’t even know Portugal had colonies in Africa.

The story goes back and forth in time, from 1980’s Brighton to Portuguese Guinea in the 1970’s, illustrating the tragic tale of Hans and Elizabeth Bromwell, the adult children of an English Lord who have fallen on hard times. Like Scheherazade, boozy middle-aged Elizabeth doles out their story, between shots of vodka, in nightly installments to David Heller, an erstwhile American college student hired to care for the irascible quadriplegic Hans. When I picked this book up, I was under the impression it would be more about the UK during the latter days of punk/early days of Brit-pop, but it actually focuses primarily on Elizabeth’s time in Africa as the young bride of a Portuguese doctor conscripted to work on the frontlines during the war in Guinea. At first I was put off because this sort of thing is of no interest to me, but gradually the drama drew me in and I found myself turning the pages anxiously in order to find the answers to the tale’s two central mysteries – What happened to Elizabeth’s husband? And what caused Hans grievous condition?

While it can be appreciated for the absorbing plot alone, it’s also both moving and thought-provoking. It examines family relationships and how they shape who we are and the paths we choose. The influence of parental neglect comes under particular scrutiny, as the plain young Elizabeth’s impetuous marriage and flight to Africa result from her feelings of rejection by her parents who dote over golden-boy Hans. And by prolonging his time in England and stealthily avoiding all contact with them, we learn that David is shunning his own parents, who shamefully neglected both of their sons after the death of their gifted eldest child, Rebecca. Somehow, Weissman seems to be conflating the strained relationships between his protagonists and their parents with the African nations’ rebellions against their European colonizers. As if the final days of Europe’s tenure in Africa was in part hastened by irresponsible, cruel stewardship and neglect. Not to mention that the Bromwell family’s slide into penury certainly parallels the fall of the mighty British Empire.

And even though the stories of both families are tragic, the book ends on a tentatively hopeful note. While this wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea, I ended up finding it engrossing and surprisingly poignant. ( )