Out of Sync

At forty, newly remarried and on the brink of professional success, the author’s husband whisks her off to the United States, where they arrive on the day of the World Trade Center bombing. Even as the image of the collapsing buildings foreshadows an uncertain future, they have no idea that their marriage might also buckle under the strain of their disparate experiences, or that the international economic crisis will make it all but impossible for them to return to their country. As he enjoys an exhilarating yet exhausting climb up the corporate ladder, she endures a lonely and dismaying struggle to salvage her career. It will only be much later, after their trust in each other and their hopes of success have broken down, before the couple understands that the forces for change affecting them and the world were destined to collide, and that they are not adrift but just part of an increasingly transient world.

Juxtaposed against dynamic changes in post-apartheid South Africa, Belinda Nicoll unfolds a quirky and insightful tale of marital endurance in post-9/11 America. Out of Sync will delight its readers: it’s filled with childhood memories of a Serpent Goddess and anecdotes about tribal Africa, the quirks of eccentric gurus and rituals with native American shamans, as well as exotic travels in the U.S. and abroad.