Lezersrecensie
Fantastic Debut Novel
SHORT REVIEW
A story that starts with two sisters in Ghana in the 17th century and ends in America in the 21st century. We read the stories of the two sisters and their descendants. One of the sisters is married with a slave trader, the other sister is sold as a slave to work in America. I dived into this book thinking only to read about the sisters and their life stories. The chapters switch between the descendants of both sisters, but each chapter is a new story again and is completely is intertwined with the previous chapters.
The stories of the descendants can come across as sad, cruel, merciless, or miserable as we read about the colonial rule and later the struggle for civil rights. But underneath these stories is also a positive vibe of perseverance, hope and of triumph.
Together with the colourful writing this was for me the beauty of this book.
“Whose story do we believe,” asks one of Effia’s descendants late in the novel. “We believe the one who has the power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must always ask yourself, whose story am I missing?” (p. 226).
A story that starts with two sisters in Ghana in the 17th century and ends in America in the 21st century. We read the stories of the two sisters and their descendants. One of the sisters is married with a slave trader, the other sister is sold as a slave to work in America. I dived into this book thinking only to read about the sisters and their life stories. The chapters switch between the descendants of both sisters, but each chapter is a new story again and is completely is intertwined with the previous chapters.
The stories of the descendants can come across as sad, cruel, merciless, or miserable as we read about the colonial rule and later the struggle for civil rights. But underneath these stories is also a positive vibe of perseverance, hope and of triumph.
Together with the colourful writing this was for me the beauty of this book.
“Whose story do we believe,” asks one of Effia’s descendants late in the novel. “We believe the one who has the power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must always ask yourself, whose story am I missing?” (p. 226).
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