Review: The Old Drift
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This begins in 1904, telling the tale of white British pioneers in Rhodesia and the ‘natives’. Initially there’s a lot of hunting and the use of the ‘N’ word seemed to be thrown in to show how awful the English were with their colonial imperialism.
However, it then settles into the intriguing tales of families of different backgrounds but all linked in some way to early Rhodesia. It covers generations through loves, marriages, heartbreak with tales of politics in Africa and the birth of a new nation, some faintly weird tales of a Zambian space race of putting a man in space, a young woman covered in rapidly growing hair with a seemingly life of its own and later science fiction.
It can be a little hard to follow at times but it is a well written epic, poetic tale of the personal lives of the characters and the sheer complications of human life and its interactions. I can see this being a favourite of book clubs and is sure to be a modern classic.
I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review
View all my reviews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This begins in 1904, telling the tale of white British pioneers in Rhodesia and the ‘natives’. Initially there’s a lot of hunting and the use of the ‘N’ word seemed to be thrown in to show how awful the English were with their colonial imperialism.
However, it then settles into the intriguing tales of families of different backgrounds but all linked in some way to early Rhodesia. It covers generations through loves, marriages, heartbreak with tales of politics in Africa and the birth of a new nation, some faintly weird tales of a Zambian space race of putting a man in space, a young woman covered in rapidly growing hair with a seemingly life of its own and later science fiction.
It can be a little hard to follow at times but it is a well written epic, poetic tale of the personal lives of the characters and the sheer complications of human life and its interactions. I can see this being a favourite of book clubs and is sure to be a modern classic.
I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review
View all my reviews
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