Beyond the Door of No Return by International Booker Prize-winner David Diop is the story of a French botanist who becomes obsessed with the legend of a Senegalese woman sold into slavery who came back from “the door of no return,” as the location for loading slaves on ships bound for America was known. He sets out to find her, does, and falls in love with her. She turns out to be a healer with magical powers. The description is excellent and the story has a gothic feel. To me, the botanist’s obsession seems more like fetishization than love. All the reviews of this novel are effusive. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/david-diop/beyond-the-door-of-no-return/