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“How is it that their government, which is supposed to be their servant, is acting as their master?”

 

Sloop Rock. Bay of Fires, Tasmania. July 2021.

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

This novel is a suitably bleak exploration of modern African history in the form of a novel. The unnamed country could stand-in for any number of post-colonial regimes that have fallen under the iron fist of a cruel dictator and exploited by foreign oil companies.

The fate of the villagers of Kosawa is heartbreaking, brutally illustrated through the stark choices forced upon them. Mbue beautifully demonstrates the lives of those wishing to preserve their traditional tribal lifestyles and protect their children from the illnesses caused by the environmental degradation caused by an American oil company.

The story arches across a generation, and the echoes of earlier generations abound. Be warned. This is no 'feel good' tale as atrocity is piled upon horror and the consequences of 'standing up for right' is deftly contrasted with those that choose to swim with the current, however debased that might be.


⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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