How Beautiful We Were Book Reviews

AUTHOR
Imbolo Mbue
SCORE
4.5
TOTAL RATINGS
249

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue Book Summary

A fearless young woman from a small African village starts a revolution against an American oil company in this sweeping, inspiring novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers.

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, People • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, The Christian Science Monitor, Marie Claire, Ms. magazine, BookPage, Kirkus Reviews

“Mbue reaches for the moon and, by the novel’s end, has it firmly held in her hand.”—NPR

We should have known the end was near. So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful second novel, How Beautiful We Were. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price.
 
Told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold on to its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.

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Book Name How Beautiful We Were
Genre Literary Fiction
Published
Language English
E-Book Size 1.88 MB

How Beautiful We Were (Imbolo Mbue) Book Reviews 2024

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Great Read!. The village of Kosawa went through many twists and turns. Thula’s determination for her village and grit to never give up is inspiring. I found myself screaming at the characters to never give up. At one point I realized there was nothing they could do, and suddenly things were getting worse. I would definitely recommend this to a friend. It’s a quick read but also hits on a lot of the things that are probably still happening today.

Broken Promises. If you have read “Behold the Dreamers” you know how talented Imbol Mbue is. After reading this one, you will realize that she is a singular talent amongst writers. With “How Beautiful We Were” she has crafted an originally heartbreaking tale that rings as true as time and stirs echoes of “Things Fall Apart” by Achebe. In this effort, Imbolo Mbue’s mastery as a writer is shown off in the well executed multi-narrative style. Employing a wide array of voices, perspectives, and lived experiences around the same events. This approach illuminates every angle of the story, leaving no dark corners unlit but maintaining a sense of mystery at what could have been. What goes unsaid is the impacts to the people and the destiny of their village. What gets spoken loudly is the broad line between youthful idealism and cruel reality. Our characters struggles underscore the fragility of western democratic principles. Their voices and views are used to expound upon the anti and pro-capitalist experiences. Well teased out threads tie it all together and make this a philosophical masterpiece. One of them being how Mbue highlights that along with Capitalism, the west exports suffering, at least in how the “prosperity” promised is delivered. Another theme circles around who controls the narrative and what truths live on after the dust settles. Lastly, Mbue repeatedly takes on the definition of what is freedom and who has it. As she demonstrates, even the most powerful live in a sort of prison of their own making. A brilliant read and recommended.

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Other Books from Imbolo Mbue
Book Name Score Reviews Price
Siamo noi i sognatori 0/5 0 $14.99
Behold the Dreamers 4/5 916 $14.99
Puissions-nous vivre longtemps 0/5 0 $15.99
My, marzyciele 0/5 0 $7.99

Summary of How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

The How Beautiful We Were book written by Imbolo Mbue was published on 09 March 2021, Tuesday in the Literary Fiction category. A total of 249 readers of the book gave the book 4.5 points out of 5.

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