A BOOK by North Tawton author Richard Laister transports the reader far away from the West Devon countryside —and guides them through the exotic and mysterious people and places of Ghana on the west coast of Africa.

After touring Mali, The Gambia and Senegal on a photo-journalism magazine assignment, two years later, the author set out on an extended tour of Ghana and neighbouring countries.

His aim was to investigate its common culture with the African diaspora in the West Indies, with a special focus on the the beliefs and practices of Voodoo.

As Richard, who studied psychology, went on to take a degree and drama and worked in England and Africa as a teacher, actor, photographer and theatre director, this book is his 'carnet de voyage'.

At school in the late 1960s, a Ghanaian fellow pupil brought to Richard Laister's attention the historic links between the West Indies, West Africa, the Atlantic slave trade and the Voodoo religion.

Forty years later, the author slipped away to explore these historic connections.

In his book 'Looking for Mr Legba' he describes a series of extended journeys above the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, focussing on Voodoo as a lens through which to observe the traditional ways of life still practised in this part of the world.

Ghana, Togo, Burkino Faso and Benin remain, as he discovered, hardly touched by Western tourism and the cultural steamroller of globalisation.

Arriving in Accra, Richard was welcomed by a retired colonel of the Ghanaian army, who was the first of several West Africans he met to lament the passing of colonial rule.

The colonel provided a rare opportunity to attend a Voodoo funeral, where the corpse, dressed as a bride, is seated upon a throne to receive her guests.

Here the author first discovered Legba, god of entrances, crossroads, mirrors, and sunlight — a divine messenger, trickster, and Janus-faced herald of joy and terror.

The funeral was a prelude to a series of adventures, in which comical and macabre incidents combine to form a unique West African mix.

In every village the author found sacrificial altars dedicated to Legba, who emerges as a universal object of veneration.

From Ghana, Richard bussed north to Ouagadougou, and then to Benin, heartland of Voodoo, where he received a blessing from a powerful sorcerer.

He survived a riot in Lome, Togo, in which there were many casualties, only to visit the President of the republic's palace — a mysterious mock French chateau, whose owner has not crossed its portal for 20 years due to a curse.

The author's odyssey through West Africa leads him to question rational interpretations of reality, reminding us of Scipio Africanus who more than 2,000 years ago declared, 'Out of Africa, always something strange emerges!'

Looking for Mr Legba by Richard Laister, published by Arena Books. Price £14.99.

ISBN 9781 9067 91445

JOHN HUTCHINS