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Product Description
Financial Times
`Quietly brilliant...reads like an Ethopian variation on The Great Gatsby. Remarkably it's not diminished by this comparison.'
Daily Telegraph Rev'd Sophie Ratcliffe
`This is a courageous and engaging novel'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This beautifully written study of emigration and the consequent hopes, fears and disorientation tells the tale of Sepha Stephanos, an Ethiopian refugee who fled after his father's murder to America. Seventeen years later he is in Washington DC living from day to day, running a neglected grocery store in a rough neighbourhood.
Mengistu paints a very tender picture of Stephanos, a man who never wanted to come to America, as he says, "I did not come to America to find a better life. I came here running and screaming with the ghosts of an old one still firmly attached to my back." He spends his days escaping into the world of fiction and regular evenings with his two African friends musing over Africa and its troubles. When Judith (a former University lecturer) and her half African daughter Naomi move in next door to him, for the first time since he arrived in the US, he has a chance to make American friends. Is this his chance to finally find himself and a purpose to his immigrant life?
Mengistu's novel is a real gem. Winner of the Guardian First Book Award, it tells a very poignant tale of isolation, of loss and of the difficulty of reconciling any kind of hope for the future with pain, guilt and fear from the past. Thought-provoking and touching, it's a really good read.
Mengistu paints a very tender picture of Stephanos, a man who never wanted to come to America, as he says, "I did not come to America to find a better life. I came here running and screaming with the ghosts of an old one still firmly attached to my back." He spends his days escaping into the world of fiction and regular evenings with his two African friends musing over Africa and its troubles. When Judith (a former University lecturer) and her half African daughter Naomi move in next door to him, for the first time since he arrived in the US, he has a chance to make American friends. Is this his chance to finally find himself and a purpose to his immigrant life?
Mengistu's novel is a real gem. Winner of the Guardian First Book Award, it tells a very poignant tale of isolation, of loss and of the difficulty of reconciling any kind of hope for the future with pain, guilt and fear from the past. Thought-provoking and touching, it's a really good read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This story about three African men living in Washington DC is extremely well written, but the title is a little misleading. The three friends, who met while working in the same hotel, might have escaped from revolutions back in their respective home countries (Ethiopia, Kenya and Zaire) but now that they are in Washington they live quiet lives in a run-down neighborhood, struggling to earn a living with varying degrees of success.
Narrated by Stephanos, son of an Ethiopian aristocrat who was killed by the thugs that took over his country, this is a gentle tale of displacement, friendship, longing for the old country and lost family. Not a great deal happens, but the quality of the writing makes it very readable. I wavered between three and four stars.
Narrated by Stephanos, son of an Ethiopian aristocrat who was killed by the thugs that took over his country, this is a gentle tale of displacement, friendship, longing for the old country and lost family. Not a great deal happens, but the quality of the writing makes it very readable. I wavered between three and four stars.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An affecting story of refugees from three African countries who have found unfulfilling and unrewarding occupations in Washington DC. Despite, or perhaps because of, their relative material impoverishment and drinking habits, they fail to integrate into mainstream US society, but nevertheless maintain rich and dignified personal integrity. A brilliant and excellently written insight into the lives and aspirations of those on the margins of society.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An unassuming, beautiful read
I picked this book up for my mother as I thought she would enjoy it. She did. As it was a short read, I decided to read it this Christmas while I was in Madrid. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Pilar
How on earth can this be compared to The Great Gatsby!
There isn't enough meat here for more than a short story, and the reading experience is dull.
Te author simply doesn't have an interesting enough "take" on things to be... Read more
Te author simply doesn't have an interesting enough "take" on things to be... Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2008 by Nt Deregowski
Brilliant novel about the immigrant experience
The harsh experience of African immigrants to the USA is revealed in this beautifully written novel, set mainly in Washington DC. It reminded me a little of V.S. Read more
Published on 6 May 2008 by J. H. Bretts
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