Rob Kidd reviews The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers. Published by Penguin Random House.
As an adolescent, Mokhtar Alkhanshali is searching for meaning in his life.
One of seven children of Yemeni immigrant parents, he grows up in one of the most socially deprived areas of San Francisco.
A trip to his ancestral homeland leaves an indelible mark on the young man's conscience and when he returns to the US, he is imbued with a new appreciation of the context of his life.
However, he still lacks direction.
Working as a doorman to the affluent members of a residential tower block allows Mokhtar to truly feel his stasis.
And then fate intervenes.
Mokhtar discovers the world's first coffee came from Yemen and he immerses himself in the rich tradition that has been all but forgotten.
His dream is to establish a team of farmers growing world-class coffee.
The fruit will be harvested, sorted and shipped from Yemen to specialist sellers in the US who will pay top dollar for the premium product.
Mokhtar has a viable business plan to create jobs and increase wages for struggling farmers and labourers and put Yemeni coffee back on the map.
There are a couple of problems, however.
Mokhtar knows nothing about coffee; and his motherland is embroiled in civil war.
Dave Eggers has found not only an incredible story of perseverance and cultural renaissance but centred it on a hugely compelling human.
At times Mokhtar is maddeningly single-minded but it soon becomes clear it is not the commercial aspect of his venture which drives him.
His foremost goal is to restore the Yemeni people with their dignity and pride in a tradition that once shaped their nation.
The story embodies the new version of the ``American Dream''.
Once that dream dictated those with nothing moved to the US for a better life, realised through hard work and dedication.
But that was often at the cost of one's own culture.
The US public did not so much mind immigrants doing well if they conformed to what it meant to be American.
Mokhtar is part of a new wave of young entrepreneurs who refuse to leave their heritage at the door, but embrace and reinvigorate it.
He uses the US as his base and forms a social bridge to his ancestral homeland.
Eggers' rendition of Mokhtar's tribulations seems almost too precarious to be true.
As Saudi bombs rain down on the embattled country, no-one in Yemen knows who to trust, who is the enemy.
Meanwhile, Mokhtar's plan is on the verge of completion.
Even with his unwavering determination, the epic tale shows just how much anyone must rely on the kindness of strangers to succeed.
At almost every roadblock, coincidence or fate brings him the break he needs to reach his goal.
It all seems a little too good to be true.
But as they say: fortune favours the brave.
Rob Kidd is an ODT court reporter and books editor.
