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A wonderfully evocative account of a lost time in Africa before political, genocidal maelstroms reframed the way the continent is perceived. Writing with great sensitivity and authenticity, Mathie enriches our understanding not just of the people but of the human spirit that thrives there." - Tim Butcher, author of Blood River and Chasing the Devil.
Product Description
Working and living in the forests of Zaire during the reign of President Mobuto Sese Seko, Ian Mathie found himself the foster father of an orphaned girl. When a powerful and feared man from another village demanded that he set a 'bride price' for the child, Ian was forced to rely on his wits and courage to find a way within the rich traditions of the area to set a fair price the man would refuse to pay. BRIDE PRICE tells the story of how this problem was resolved. Set in the brooding vastness of the tropical rain forest, it provides intimate insights into the lives of a little-known people and their complex relationship with their environment, the spirits and the outside world.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
With exotic landscapes, indigenous people and ancient customs borne of tribal history, Africa can beguile and unnerve visitors in equal measure.
Spiritual beliefs passed down through generations can seem primitive to those of us unfamiliar with their way of life, but not to author Ian Mathie who spent part of the 1970s working on water resource projects and staying in remote villages in deepest Africa.
While living in what was then known as Zaire, Ian Mathie became a foster father to a young orphaned girl who needed a home.
When a much-feared party official from a neighbouring village demanded that a Bride Price be set for the girl so he could take her as a wife, Mathie had to find a way to outwit the tyrannical suitor using only his wits, and a limited knowledge of local customs and traditions.
Bride Price is full of interesting characters and lovingly describes the people Mathie came to care for and documents their wonderfully pragmatic way of life, not to mention the odd gruesome practice.
Spiritual beliefs passed down through generations can seem primitive to those of us unfamiliar with their way of life, but not to author Ian Mathie who spent part of the 1970s working on water resource projects and staying in remote villages in deepest Africa.
While living in what was then known as Zaire, Ian Mathie became a foster father to a young orphaned girl who needed a home.
When a much-feared party official from a neighbouring village demanded that a Bride Price be set for the girl so he could take her as a wife, Mathie had to find a way to outwit the tyrannical suitor using only his wits, and a limited knowledge of local customs and traditions.
Bride Price is full of interesting characters and lovingly describes the people Mathie came to care for and documents their wonderfully pragmatic way of life, not to mention the odd gruesome practice.
Format:Paperback
A truly evocative account of the culture of the forest people of what is now DR Congo. Having worked around Africa, including DR Congo, i could visualise the colours and detail of the people as they were so vividly described. A thrilling insight into what so few people are now able to experience; Africa as it was and untouched by the modern trappings of today. I look forward to reading man in a mud hut.
Format:Paperback
This book tells the reader who has never been to Africa - who has no personal experience of Zaire, or its people, or its history - a great deal. It is a simple story, but constructed with a host of fascinating and complex ingredients, least of which not being the location, with its smells, movement, and noises; its strange fauna, and fast growing and swiftly encroaching flora. Its vibrant people, with all their human strengths and foibles. It takes the reader there, unaware that the simple story is intensively potent, and full of the potential to impress itself indelibly on the memory.
Readers have two memory caches, it seems: one for ordinary life and procedures, another for what is read, ingested through the narratives of others. There are rich and vibrant places to visit, fascinating people to know, and valuable life lessons to learn. There are such complex life stories and histories of places to witness, far away from the bland and predictable suburbs of the world's cities. How little we know of the real world.
This is narrative non-fiction at its best: personal experience told in a self-effacing way, a way that brings to life a Zaire during President Mobutu's reign. A Zaire whose village life thrums with vibrant, colourful and very meaningful life: rituals, usage and customs to be marvelled at for their logical simplicity, for their human complexity.
This is narrative non-fiction that tells us much more about the author than he probably would like revealed, but it is manifest in each line: such sensitivity. Such capacity to take on - without fear, without concept of threat to his own customs, language, usage, or personal habituation - the entire character of a village and become one of its best loved and most respected members. By enabling adopted daughter Abélé's acceptance, his own is assured, but it is not intentional or planned. It is utterly altruistic and generous. The friendship and respect of the Akuamba Kau is not earned lightly: it is neither a tourist nor a mere chance passer-through who receives the secret fruit of this forest.
There are surprises that could seem harrowing, and a growing understanding that the spiritual life of the forest is not to be taken as quasi-fictional. And then there is the end: an emotional one, which moves the reader to tears. What befalls this village in the rain forest? How does its fate affect the light-skinned man who tended its water supply, and the delicate relationship he tried to safeguard for the future of one of its own?
Readers have two memory caches, it seems: one for ordinary life and procedures, another for what is read, ingested through the narratives of others. There are rich and vibrant places to visit, fascinating people to know, and valuable life lessons to learn. There are such complex life stories and histories of places to witness, far away from the bland and predictable suburbs of the world's cities. How little we know of the real world.
This is narrative non-fiction at its best: personal experience told in a self-effacing way, a way that brings to life a Zaire during President Mobutu's reign. A Zaire whose village life thrums with vibrant, colourful and very meaningful life: rituals, usage and customs to be marvelled at for their logical simplicity, for their human complexity.
This is narrative non-fiction that tells us much more about the author than he probably would like revealed, but it is manifest in each line: such sensitivity. Such capacity to take on - without fear, without concept of threat to his own customs, language, usage, or personal habituation - the entire character of a village and become one of its best loved and most respected members. By enabling adopted daughter Abélé's acceptance, his own is assured, but it is not intentional or planned. It is utterly altruistic and generous. The friendship and respect of the Akuamba Kau is not earned lightly: it is neither a tourist nor a mere chance passer-through who receives the secret fruit of this forest.
There are surprises that could seem harrowing, and a growing understanding that the spiritual life of the forest is not to be taken as quasi-fictional. And then there is the end: an emotional one, which moves the reader to tears. What befalls this village in the rain forest? How does its fate affect the light-skinned man who tended its water supply, and the delicate relationship he tried to safeguard for the future of one of its own?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Bride Price by Ian Mathie
Having worked in Africa and come across the traditional practice whereby a suitor makes a compensatory payment to the parents for their daughter's hand in marriage, often in the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Gerard G Sullivan
A brilliant true story of suspense in Africa.
An amazing story of a crisis in the life of an African village, told from the inside - and best of all, it's all true. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Linda Cash
A compelling read
Bride Price
Ian Mathie brings this true story to life and draws the reader in with detail and emotion, in a fast paced easy to read style. Read more
Ian Mathie brings this true story to life and draws the reader in with detail and emotion, in a fast paced easy to read style. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jackyc
A Captivating Tale of an African Village, a Girl and Her English...
Bride Price is a captivating tale of the author's passion for the village people of Africa. It is set in 1970's Zaire, now the Congo. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Boyd Lemon
A cliffhanger with compassion
This has as many thrills as many a fictional book, but this is real life. Ian knows Africa from the inside and this account of his time working and living in the forests of Zaire... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Sylvie
Highly recommended
What a beautifully written account of human spirit and compassion. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ian has a wonderful command of writing, enabling him to totally captivate and... Read more
Published 13 months ago by elainedarlin
Compelling read!
What a beautifuly written book! Ian Mathie paints vibrant pictures with his beautiful words. It was as though I had been transported to Africa . Read more
Published 13 months ago by Lynne H
Fascinating story!
I couldn't put down this compelling and well-written story. It transported me to another world, with a sense that I knew the characters involved. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Margaret Wilson
bride price by ian mathie
A fascinating real story told by the author, who was actually involved. I just could not put the book down, with it's twists. Read more
Published 13 months ago by eva de larey
Another world!
I have just finished reading " Bride Price " and once I had started I couldn't put it down! The surroundings, characters and customs came alive and I was tranported from... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Susie Jones
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