Juggling Truths

I don't read literature generally, and read even less African literature (I think perhaps Chinua Achebe's "A Man of The People" is the only other), but I really loved reading this book. Dow's style is conversational, and she is able to tell this story both in the voice of the girl it is about, as well as in that of the woman she's become. More than once I thought about how Harper Lee did the same thing in "To Kill a Mockingbird." Their stories are about larger ideas and problems, but they so richly describe childhood that at times you feel as if you're actually there in the story. (The obviously important thing about comparative literature is that you learn about differences and similarities, and Dow shows this American how alike children in Ohio are to those in Botswana.) I was particularly taken with Dow's deliberate revelation of courtship and marriage between Nei's grandparents. I read one passage over and again three times in one sitting, because it is so beautifully described, and in such an endearing context. I don't pretend to completely understand how difficult it can be to straddle two strikingly different "worlds," but after reading this story I find myself a bit closer.