How Beautiful We Were

This beautifully written novel was touching, poetic and an emotional read. Set in the fictional village of Kosawa, where their farmlands, water supply and air have been corrupted by an American oil company, Pexton, the people of Kosawa are left to simply survive whilst watching the devastation that the oil has caused around them. It is not only their land that is suffering but their family and friends. Children are dying with too many people being buried before their time. With the company not taking ownership and washing their hands of the situation in Kosawa, the people are left with no option other than to fight back.

As the story unfolds we hear the voices of different people within the village from ‘The Children' through to different members of Thula's family. Each voice is not only thought-provoking but heartfelt. This is a story of struggle, exploitation, oppression, grief, loss but also of family, hope, love, dedication and fighting for what is right.

A memorising, poignant read that I urge you to read.

The audiobook was excellent, as the different readers made sense when the narrators shifted, and heightened my appreciation for Mbue's structure that I don't think I would have liked if reading it on the page. This is a departure from Behold the Dreamers and shows real range. I prefer a more linear story, but in audio form I liked hearing more details from each narrator and didn't mind that that took away from the pacing and meandered around in time. The subject is really emotional but I didn't feel emotionally connected, even by the tragedies building to the end, and part of that is the structure forced the reader to be at a remove. I think I appreciated this book more than I enjoyed it, but I'll definitely continue to read what Mbue publishes.