Uganda, East Africa, 1971. When Peace Corps volunteer Laurel Bittelson shakes the hand of the newly-in-charge “President for Life” Idi Amin Dada, neither she nor the rest of the world has any idea how the dictator would brutalize his country. 1971 was supposed to be the year Laurel made her mother happy by marrying a safe and stable medical student, not defying everyone’s expectations by running off to teach in Africa — where she would find beauty, music, love, and unimaginable evil, changing her life forever.