Ruth Linnea Whitney

Mimosa Road opens shortly after Cassandra, a.k.a. Cass, arrives from the US with her physician husband and two small sons. She begins to hear stories of President Mobutu beheading his political enemies in the public stadium, stories that arouse her innate gift for detecting injustice and her desire to set the country right.

Her desire finds a path forward when she meets Sofia, a bright young Zairian married to a mean drunk. She lives with her husband, their son, and two daughters in the River Village near Cass’ posh neighborhood, Mimosa Village. One night of a big rain, Sofia’s four-year-old son drowns. Her husband returns from a night of drinking, blames her for the drowning, beats her, tells her she’s dead to him, and leaves. His brother, Daniel, steps in to support Sofia and her two daughters. Subsequently, he offends Mobutu and gets thrown in prison on trumped-up charges of treason. Sofia goes to Cass and tells her about Daniel’s imprisonment. Cass hires her as a nanny and decides she must find a way to help free Daniel.

Tommy is unable to free Daniel, who dies in prison. Then, Cass discovers her husband and best friend having an affair. She resumes contact with Xavier and meets his cadre. They give her only their code names, but they reveal enough so she knows they’re ready to take the President.

Sofia’s husband returns to the family in the River Village. Sofia is torn, as he appears changed back to the fine man she married.

As a gesture of independence from her husband, Cass starts taking the local public bus to town. One day, a soldier boards the bus, seizes her, and drives her to a holding cell with one crude toilet, no food, and jammed with women in various states of emotional and physical disarray. After several nights of terror and a visit from her husband bearing food, an Army guy leads her from the cell. She fears she’s heading for execution. Instead, he leads her to a Mercedes, with Tommy inside and his pilot for the plane he keeps. She’s delivered to a motel and her husband, who regrets his betrayal. She succumbs to their old heat. Come morning, she finds herself with Tommy’s pilot flying to Luanda, Angola, and, she hopes, far from Mobutu’s rage.

In the River Village, Sofia learns from the drums that the plot has failed, one player has died, the others have escaped, including her husband, who betrayed Cass and crossed the river to Brazzaville. Sofia embraces her anger. Now it is her turn to declare him dead to her.

At the Luanda Airport, Cass receives a call from her husband with his hopes of their eventual reunion and reconciliation. She tells him she cannot say for sure. She must let her answer find its own path inside her. She must also revisit her subliminal nudge to make the world better, not in a distant country, but on her home ground.