“At its core, The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget is a keenly reported private detective story and police procedural about a son’s search for justice many years after his father’s betrayal and disappearance at the hands of Idi Amin’s military henchmen. At the same time, Andrew Rice’s book is an ably presented drama about the workings of a Ugandan courthouse. It is also an efficient primer on Uganda’s tumultuous history and a political précis of a succession of regimes, culminating with that of the current president, the increasingly authoritarian Yoweri Museveni. And on the broadest level, it is a vivid prism for examining some of the largest themes in Africa’s history.… A thoughtful meditation on the nature of memory, on forgiveness and reconciliation, told with a combination of attentiveness to historical background and genuine care for the lives of real people, The Teeth May Smile enriches the small world of serious Africa books for nonspecialists.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“Insightful . . . Outstanding reporting . . . Rice's by-the-facts approach wields tremendous power. . . . A valuable contribution to the literature of memory and trauma.”
—The New York Observer

“A provocative story of war, death, and the quest for justice in the wake of Idi Amin’s ruinous reign in Uganda... Reconciliation is an increasingly important process in nations once torn by fratricide. Rice’s important book serves as an urgent case study, complete with a surprising outcome."

—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

 

“Treating the Lakis’ story as a microcosm of Uganda’s own, the author weaves together the family’s search for truth and justice with Uganda’s history. From its intimate portrait of Eliphaz’s grieving family to the wide-angle perspectives of the tumultuous post-independence years as Ugandans struggled to knit together a nation from the ethnically, linguistically, and religiously diverse peoples within their colonial borders, The Teeth May Smile recasts a familiar history in an entirely new light."

—Publishers Weekly