Five Books in Africa

Similar to my goal to read a number of Indian books while on the Indian subcontinent, I also resolved to read some quality books devoted to sub-Saharan Africa.

Here are my top five:

The Power of One – If I had to make a Top 10 list of my all-time favorite novels, this book would without question feature prominently on it. It’s one of the few novels I’ve enjoyed so much that I’ve read it twice, the story of a young English boy growing up and overcoming obstacles in the unstable era of WWII South Africa. A brilliant story (but whatever you do, don’t read the disappointing sequel).

The Poisonwood Bible – What happens when a naive and dangerously idealistic missionary moves from the American south to the remote post-colonial rural Congo in the early 60s with his wife and four daughters? A  tragic clash of cultures. Told through the alternating viewpoints of the four daughters, this fascinating story also provides a remarkable glimpse into daily life in remote African villages.

Half of a Yellow Sun – Told through the viewpoint of five different characters, this story unfolds during the tragic Nigerian-Biafran War of 1967-1970. A compelling story that provides both important historical context to the war (the appalling humanitarian toll in this war would lead to the creation of the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders) and to the dramatic way in which each person’s life was altered by the events.

While the above three are novels with a strong historical element, the following two are real, personal accounts:

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier – Swept into Sierra Leone’s civil war at 12, his entire family killed, Ishmael retells his harrowing flight from war, eventual brutal participation in it as a young drug-fueled soldier, and his painful and difficult journey back to “normal” life. A moving and haunting account.

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust – The horrors of the Rwandan genocide are appalling on just about any level, not the least of which because they were largely preventable. This moving personal account by Immaculee, a young woman who savagely lost her entire family to the war, however, provides a dose of inspiration next to the shock and senseless brutality of the mass slaughter, a personal odyssey of discovering and deepening of her faith through the most difficult of times.