In April 1992, Valentine Strasser, a young military officer, seized the Sierra Leonean government, becoming the youngest head of state in the world. Afterwards, everything unravelled. First, my mother left, off to America to continue her legal education. Then, there was a curfew – no leaving the house after 6pm. And then there were the disappearances. My father was in politics, so when the war started, the people I knew were some of the first to go. I don’t remember how many, or even whom. My memory is generally not the best when it comes to this time, a common effect of childhood trauma....