I don't mind a flawed hero, but the character of Isaac was particularly difficult for me because he didn't seem to ever learn from his mistakes. There were a couple of times, early on in my reading, that I almost put the book down because I just couldn't connect with him. I am glad I journeyed on, as with people in real life, what is immediately visible isn't always what lies beneath. He was a hard character to connect with, probably a little because of the different languages interspersed with the scenes in the first third of the book. But, as I said, I am glad I kept with him because the book carried a powerful message and an important point of view from Africa during WWII.