• The narrative is set against the backdrop of Uganda's transition from British rule in 1962. It explores the "blindness to change" as the initial promise of independence is gradually overshadowed by the rising instability and the shift toward the kleptocracy and violence associated with Milton Obote's first regime.
• Author Catherine Davis lived on the outskirts of Kampala as a child and wrote the book as a tribute to the place she loved, reflecting on how easily the "normal" life of a prosperous nation was transformed by the country's turbulent history.
