A review by andrew61
Travellers by Helon Habila
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
I found this book from a quote in "A spell of good things" and was so glad to discover a sensitive and compelling portrayal of the diversity and sadness of the modern immigrant experience.
A Nigerian man and his American wife are staying in Berlin for the wife's art exhibition. In a series of encounters which make up the book the man meets a number of individuals who have emigrated from their native home. All are forced to flee because of prejudice, war , and the potential marriage of 10 year old daughter to a warlord.
Whether is the doctor who works as a bouncer who takes his daughter to checkpoint Charlie every day to see if his wife and other child survived, the young man at the centre of immigrant protests at the Berlin police breaking up home who hides a secret, or the man he meets on a train with his silent son who has a sad story to tell, these are heartbreaking stories of people forced into a life they have not sought.
A book that gives colour to the voices and lives of individuals labelled pejoratively as immigrants. An excellent piece of storytelling.
A Nigerian man and his American wife are staying in Berlin for the wife's art exhibition. In a series of encounters which make up the book the man meets a number of individuals who have emigrated from their native home. All are forced to flee because of prejudice, war , and the potential marriage of 10 year old daughter to a warlord.
Whether is the doctor who works as a bouncer who takes his daughter to checkpoint Charlie every day to see if his wife and other child survived, the young man at the centre of immigrant protests at the Berlin police breaking up home who hides a secret, or the man he meets on a train with his silent son who has a sad story to tell, these are heartbreaking stories of people forced into a life they have not sought.
A book that gives colour to the voices and lives of individuals labelled pejoratively as immigrants. An excellent piece of storytelling.