A review by karenluvstoread
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

5.0

Oh my y'all! This book was so good! It was wonderfully written yet also brutal to read at times. 

The story is set in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea at the time of the Bougainville Conflict. When I finished reading it, I went down a rabbit hole researching what the Bougainville Conflict was. It was a multi-year civil war in the North Solomon Islands (which is a province of Papua New Guinea) lasting from 1988-1998. According to Wikipedia:

“The conflict was described by Bougainvillean President John Momis as the largest conflict in Oceania since the end of World War II in 1945, with an estimated 15,000–20,000 Bougainvilleans dead, although lower estimates place the toll at around 1,000–2,000.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bougainville_conflict) 

I learned a good bit about the nature of this conflict as well as its impact on the Bougainvillians just by reading the book. Then my research gave me more details of the particulars. 

The author also helps the reader get to know the island itself through amazing descriptive writing such as:

“Bougainville is one of the most fertile places on earth. Drop a seed in the soil and three months later it is a plant with shiny green leaves. Another three months and you are picking its fruit. But for a machete, we would have no land of our own. Left alone the bush would march down the steep hillsides and bury our villages in flower and vine.” 
(p. 14-15)

“There are days when the humidity rises and rises and gets heavier and heavier until, at last, it bursts. The rain falls and you breathe again.” (p. 94)

This novel is about community, culture, and relationships; but it’s also about the power of books and reading as well as the power of imagination. And yes, Dickens' classic novel Great Expectations is a major part of the story. 

Mister Pip is a book that is hard to read at times; but it's such a powerful story! It was a solid 5 star read!