Great African Reads discussion

The poll has ended and the result is in: Our choice for Zambia (yes, it's alphabetically slightly out of order, but we'll live, right?), so, our choice for Zambia is:
A Cowrie of Hope
by Binwell Sinyangwe
We shall be reading it from May to July - so look for a copy of the book now!

I have ordered my copy of A Cowrie of Hope from Book Depository as it ships worldwide for free and it was $8.64.

My libraries do not have a copy of this book.
Since it is shipping from the UK it will take about two weeks to receive in the US.

I read this a few years ago and enjoyed it a lot. It is a beautiful story about a mother's love for her daughter. Perhaps more optimistic than realistic, but a wonderful story all the same.

I am done with our Tanzania choice, so I'll get started on this now :)

I have received my book but probably will not start this book until July.

I finished this last night. It was an interesting insight into 1990s Zambia with the economic crisis going on, and this "new disease" that they rarely mention by name but it would be the right timing for AIDs.

"The nineties. The years of the rule of money. The years of havelessness, bad rains and the new disease. The harsh years of madness and evil!"

I loved Sula's mother, and while I agree with Diane that it is probably more optimistic than realistic, but honestly sometimes that's a nice change.

I marked a few passages....

"Marriage and men are not salvation but the ruin of any woman who can't stand on her own two feet."

"You bring new people in government and hope the sky will open up and spill honey upon the earth; instead a dryness and a stubborn disease clothe it in harshness and blood." (this time the disease may be malaria)

(view spoiler)[explanation of title:
"The child was a cowrie of hope. A great gift from the gods to one who was so poor and lowly, to wear round one's neck for inspiration, and, above all, hope."

A cowrie is actually a shell, a pretty shell. (hide spoiler)]

"We are the doormat of the world. We can be stepped on without knowing who is doing the stepping."

I just finished this - and found it to be kind of a mix between:
A) a fairy tale (Cinderella's Mom really goes through all kinds of horrible ordeals (though not violence or rape, which was a nice change from some of the harsher stuff), before succeeding...
...and B) a very real description of living poor - and I agree with Jenny: Interesting insight into Zambia in the 90's crisis and the AIDS epidemic.
I found the language heavy and a bit strange at times, but at least when it comes to speech it read as a way to stay close to the native tongue. My full review - I quite liked the story - also it's a bit of a quick read :)

I have finished this book.

Overall it was a quick read.

But I did have some mixed feelings about the book.
Too often I thought the writing style was reminiscent of a book written in a much earlier time than in 2000, so I glad for the constant reminders that time of the story was the 1990s.

The level of poverty while overwhelming was realistic and jarring that those especially in the rural areas were still hopeful.

As I started reading I did look up the history of Zambia in the 1990s so I could understand the comments of the time and why some were optimist about the future.

Nasula was certainly an inspiring character despite all of the curve balls that life through at her.
But despite her lack of education and other resources she was determined to ensure that her daughter got an education.

I have given the book to a friend from Zambia to see what she thought of this storyline.

Beverly wrote: "I have given the book to a friend from Zambia to see what she thought of this storyline. "
That should be interesting :)

Just finished reading this short book.
I truly enjoyed reading it, in the first place because of the beautiful language, mainly in the descriptions and in the dialogues. I marveled at the nicely translated dialogues from local language to English, reflecting the dignity and respectful social ways of Zambian people.
When the main character got to Lusaka at the market, the story line pushed me to continue reading until the end. I expected a happy ending, but was not really sure of it. Nice book.