deathlock

This is my favorite book. Hands down. There is something about this book that strongly affects me every single time I read it. I have read it maybe 8 times. The first time I read it, it was while working in a coffee shop. It was supposed to be my "break time" reading, but I am sure I nearly got fired that week, because I couldn't put it down. The book is told from the point of view of the Price women, four sisters and their mother, who have all been brought to the Belgian Congo by Rev. Price, an Evengelical Baptist minister, determined to bring the word of God to the African savages, no matter what the cost. The family and their mission begin to dissolve as the Belgians pull out of Africa, leaving severe political unrest in their wake, unrest driven by the CIA and the US government. We see the family struggle to survive and cope with their faith; faith in God, in each other, in their country and in justice. Kingsolver's strength in this novel is her point of view narration and the way each of the five female voices sound completely different, yet enough similarities exist to believe they are all related. As the daughter of a minister myself, I strongly identified with Leah, but I also enjoyed Adah's, her twin sister, point of view. The counterpoints of Leah's positive, hopefulness is juxtoposed nicely by her sister, who was crippled at birth, who speaks in rhymes and palindromes and sees the dark side of everything. The relationship between mothers and daughters, and between sisters is strongly explored. We also see each of the girls chasing after their father's approval, which is nearly impossibe to gain. Each of the Price's learn something valuable from the dark continent, though some learn it more grudgingly than others. The book definetly increased my interest in the parts of African history that no one teaches you in high school, mostly how Western nations used the contient like a giant chess board, moving pawns and unseating democratically elected socialists in favor of capitalists willing to sell them raw materials cheap. Five stars. All the way.

2022-10-21 05:24