To convey these lessons, the author employs a series of short portraits of individuals tormented by the internal conflicts between their innate inner feelings and societal demands, and the need to strike a moral balance in a confusing universe. Ultimately he focuses on a fable-like tale of a man who is miraculously (and perhaps mistakenly) placed, in Tikita, an area of ancient eastern Africa by an angel called Halabai. This man, Habi, is fully grown when he arrives on the planet, but he has no memory and his experience is a blank slate. He leads a primitive, Adam-like existence in this African landscape (complete with an Eve-like counterpart, Sheeba), until his valley is invaded by members of a sophisticated and numerous society, the Hikandans.

Eventually Habi and Sheeba join the newly encountered Hikandans and make the difficult transition from their original isolated Eden into the socially complex if still primitive society of the Hikandans. In the process, the narrative begins to shift from an illustrative Eden-like fable to a series of Socratic dialogs (a little like those of Plato’s Republic) in which some of Habi’s Hikandan male friends serve as mentors, delivering complex answers to his questions about his inner feelings, the ramifications of those feelings, the behaviors they produce in his relationships with others, and the reasons for them as defined by nature and, ultimately, the creator.

Although Tikitian Imprints addresses many subjects that have been explored for centuries by a host of writers, prophets and philosophers, Eleishi’s particular focus is a quest to discover the moral truths that lie beneath the surface of “good” human behavior and make them transparent to the reader, revealing the compromises within. As Habi’s mentor Auna observes: “To be pure is to recognize our impurities.” Mr. Eleishi believes that achieving this understanding is vital if we are to come to terms with our mortality, ensure the future our children will inhabit, and understand the bounty of our creator. The author is aware that initially, not everyone will appreciate his point of view. In his closing “apologia,” Eleishi admits that accepting his point of view means acknowledging unpleasant truths, but insists “I only meant to suggest what I believe are the real reasons behind the good reasons that we give for the things that we feel, things we say, and things we do.” For some readers, much that is said in Tikitian Imprints will be nothing new, but for others who can respond to his central theme, this book may leave an imprint.