Heart drum

Do drums have hearts? Probably if they are the sacred drums of Rwanda. And can Nyabingi, the fearsome Spirit of the mysterious Queen Kitami, take possession of a little girl? Of course, if her irresistible penchant for solitude and reverie leads her too often to the banks of the swamp where an old witch lies in wait for her.

And so it is that Prisca, the little village girl from a hill in Rwanda, becomes Kitami, the star who, with her magnetic improvisations, captivates the whole world. And Kitami, the African goddess, makes Ruguina, the sacred drum, resound from Rwanda to Jamaica, from the Bronx to Salvador de Bahia.

But Kitami's ending turns out to be a real enigma: Ruguina's belly may hold the secret.