Two Moons by J. Raymond Ractliffe - Introduction

Two Moons is a new novel by J. Raymond Ractliffe that explores the inner spirit life of Africa, her people and their powerful faith in the world of the Unseen.

The real heroes of this story, are not the two main male characters, Matthew and Etona whose life long battles climax after a board room battle of their multi-national corporations, but the women who survive the events that swirl around them.

In the background, we have Majura who is as old as Africa itself, ever wise and connected directly to the ancestors and African God-Ngai, she watches the unfolding events through her "Milk-Eye" and sacred fire.

Zizi, second wife of Masai chief is left childless and without standing. With the help of Sampanga, the village medicine man - she masterminds her new pregnancy and plan to eliminate all that stands between her child and the carved throne.

The Twins, Pathera and Gileni fall in love as young girls while apprenticing under Majura's care in Kenya. Pathera falls in love to a Masai friend of Etona, Chezwe, who guides Pathera back to Majura, who, after she has healed the two young men of their wounds after being brought to her for healing.... Majura returns to the Mountain of the Moon and her sacred cave where she watches the men choose their destinies and battles in the clear waters of a crystal pool.

The other, Gileni, falls in love with one of the main characters, Etona, with whom, after a short stint at a Missionary school, she follows him to London where he has graduated from a private elite school, to operate an Art Gallery, where smuggled diamonds hidden in African curios that she has collected, helps Etona build his empire.

Matthew's Uncle Jeremy, his wife Claire, is the quiet backbone of the Baldwins. Her firm spirit keeps Jeremy alive after a terrible lion attack leaves him scared physically and emotionally for life. It is her courage and strength that keeps Jeremy alive in his hours in need, long after the roar of wild battle is dimmed by time.

Even when her own son is kidnapped in this classic battle, her quiet courage keeps her family together until the ransom demands are met, another cog to the final corporate battle.

Brittany Watkins, a painter and art/drama teacher in Matthew's school, is mistress to Matthew's headmaster Conrad - father of his best friend Christopher - Brittany begins a relationship with Etona in London while promoting her latest exhibition. little does she know, she is only a pawn in a battle between Matthew and a legacy of the fading colonial past that in the end divides Etona's own household and threatens to topple his life-long plans of revenge.

Marie, ever faithful wife to Conrad. Even years after their divorce, her Bible comforts her until his return to their farm where she is able to welcome him back from his years with his blond whore.

Two Moons stretches your imagination and explores the spirit of Africa in a way that has remained unknown to the "White Man" since his landing in Africa.

From the opening pages where the charge of a rhino leaves Mathew wounded, to a poisoned knife that strips the skin of Etona's youth during his initiation ceremony, leaving him fevered and dying while others try to lay claim to his fathers carved throne, Two Moons weaves an incredible tale

Carefully planned over decades; from an open marketplace in the heart of Nairobi to the privileged schools in London and Cape Town; illegal diamond smuggling and a small African Art Gallery in the heart of London, all become the coloured tapestry weaving a gripping story that ends under the ever watchful eye of Majura, the old medicine woman.

Behind the veil of lives that are forever turning, the quiet smile of Ngai is ever present, sometimes only there to sprinkle the dreams of the dead in the starlit skies.

Two Moons is a gripping read - of heroes and heroines and of the vanquished who are forever silent.