Scan barcode
A review by _inge_
Het land van de vaders by Vamba Sherif
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This a the multi-generational story taking place in Liberia, centering around a man who came back from America and a family that never left Africa and found itself in the free state Liberia. The writing is good and efficient, there is no unnecessary language in this book. The second part from the point of view of Edward was not my favourite. From the reviews I gather that this is the first part of the English version of the book, in Dutch it is the second part. In the third part it takes a long time to figure out which generation we are with, because paople are named after their forefathers.
The book gives a bit of insight into the birth of Liberia from the point of view of (mainly) the people that already lived there. As a reader, you don't always know which party is inciting violence at what time, but the local people wouldn't always have known either. The local spiritual beliefs take a large part in the story. The points of view are very male, the women are either wives, love interests and at one point a decendant of one of a couple in the first chapter. I had to keep reminding myself that the people coming back from America (who were also missionaries) were Black. That's a me-thing though, I've never read about black missionaries before.
Interesting book to read, the language was a bit too sparse for me to fully understand what was going on, and I didn't like the secondary roles of the women much.
The book gives a bit of insight into the birth of Liberia from the point of view of (mainly) the people that already lived there. As a reader, you don't always know which party is inciting violence at what time, but the local people wouldn't always have known either. The local spiritual beliefs take a large part in the story. The points of view are very male, the women are either wives, love interests and at one point a decendant of one of a couple in the first chapter. I had to keep reminding myself that the people coming back from America (who were also missionaries) were Black. That's a me-thing though, I've never read about black missionaries before.
Interesting book to read, the language was a bit too sparse for me to fully understand what was going on, and I didn't like the secondary roles of the women much.