Cabo Verde - The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araujo

Book 27: The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo - Germano Almeida

"Everyone in Cape Verde knows Señor da Silva. Successful entrepreneur, owner of the island's first automobile, a most serious, upright, and self-made businessman, Señor da Silva is the local success story. Born an orphan, he never married, he never splurged; one good suit was good enough for him; and he never wandered from the straight and narrow. Or so everyone thought. But when Señor da Silva's 387-page Last Will and Testament is read aloud; a marathon task on a hot afternoon which exhausts reader after reader; there's eye-opening news, and not just for the smug nephew so certain of inheriting all Señor da Silva's property. With his will, Señor da Silva leaves a memoir that is a touching web of elaborate self-deceptions."

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I wouldn't call it a "touching" web of elaborate self-deceptions. Señor da Silva is supposed to be a sympathetic character. I think. I didn't find him to be. He was pretentious, self-absorbed, and, frankly, a rapist. That little bit is entirely glossed over. But anyway. He also died utterly alone. So that's something, I guess. Thankfully, most of this short book is more about other people and their relationships with and lives after Señor da Silva, because that guy was terrible. 

Not my favorite book. Obviously.

Burundi - Small Country

Book 26: Small Country - Gaël Faye

"In 1992, Gabriel, ten years old, lives in Burundi in a comfortable expatriate neighborhood with his French father, his Rwandan mother, and his little sister, Ana. In this joyful idyll, Gabriel spends the better part of his time with his mischievous band of friends, in a tiny cul-de-sac they have turned into their kingdom. But their peaceful existence will suddenly shatter when this small African country is brutally battered by history."

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Burundi lies at the southern border of Rwanda. 85% of its population is Hutu, 15% are Tutsi, and less than 1% are indigenous Twa. So when the Rwandan genocide broke out in 1994, it didn't take long for the violence to spill over the border into Burundi. 

The novel begins in 1992, in a peaceful Burundi. Young Gabriel has a fairly normal life, though not one entirely without difficulty. His father is French, an upper middle class businessman. His mother is a Rwandan refugee, with many relatives still living in Kigali. They own land, have a cook, a maid, and a driver. But soon his mother's family in Rwanda warns them of coming atrocities and Gabriel's world starts to change. He resists the changes - he doesn't believe that anything bad can or will touch him in the safe confines of his town, his street. He escapes first into his friendships and then into books. But the war finds his town, his friends, and then his family. 

This book is so good. It's terrible in its reality, but I'll be honest - I didn't know the Rwandan genocide extended beyond the borders of Rwanda. This small book about a small country should go on everyone's to-read list. 

Burkina Faso - The Parachute Drop: Norbert Zongo

Book 25: The Parachute Drop - Norbert Zongo

"...the story of a corrupt African dictator toppled in a coup d'état, who seeks to restore his presidency." 

This novel is about a fictional country and a fictional dictator. However, Norbert Zongo was an outspoken critic of Burkina Faso's president, Blaise Compaoré, and Compaoré had Zongo arrested, beaten, and ultimately, assassinated following the publication of this novel. 

So what did Compaorê find so objectionable? I suppose no dictator is a fan of books about overthrowing dictators. In "Parachute Drop," the army of fictional Watinbow overthrows the tyrannical President Gouama, who had taken over following the decolonization of the country. President Gouama survives the coup, but then struggles to get to safety...only to find that his friends have all turned against him. 

This is a short, interesting read about oppressive regimes that took over many African countries following decolonization. 

Bulgaria - Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe

Book 24: Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe - Kapka Kassabova

"...Kapka Kassabova returns to Bulgaria, from where she emigrated as a girl twenty-five years previously, to explore the border it shares with Turkey and Greece. When she was a child, the border zone was rumored to be an easier crossing point into the West than the Berlin Wall, and it swarmed with soldiers and spies. On holidays in the 'Red Riviera' on the Black Sea, she remembers playing on the beach only miles from a bristling electric fence whose barbs pointed inwards toward the enemy: the citizens of a totalitarian regime.

Kassabova discovers a place that has been shaped by successive forces of history: the Soviet and Ottoman empires, and, older still, myth and legend. Her exquisite portraits of fire walkers, smugglers, treasure hunters, botanists, and border guards populate the book. There are also the ragged men and women who have walked across Turkey from Syria and Iraq. But there seem to be nonhuman forces at work here too: This densely forested landscape is rich with curative springs and Thracian tombs, and the tug of the ancient world, of circular time and animism, is never far off."

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I struggled to get into this book. Parts of it were, indeed, enthralling. But it's written almost as a bunch of short stories, as Kapka travels across Bulgaria and meets different people, so just as one group comes into focus, she moves on to the next village. It just seems really uneven - some of the stories were horrifying, some magical, some just plain boring, and some were in between. I never knew what I was going to get from one chapter to the next, which made it hard to return to. 

That said, I came to this book knowing nothing of Bulgaria's history, or its present. It's one of those little European countries that kind of gets lost in the shuffle. But it has an important story to tell. The stories of the immigrants and refugees were particularly catching. And I admit that I wasn't aware of the stories of East German refugees and the horrors that they experienced, trying to escape to the West. The Berlin Wall fell when I was 11. And up until the day it fell, there were people trying to escape via the forests of Bulgaria - and there were Bulgarian citizens who had to choose between turning them in or being imprisoned or killed if they let them go. I had no idea. That knowledge alone makes this book a worthwhile read. But it does much more than that. Bulgaria. 

Brazil - The Seamstress

Book #23: The Seamstress - Frances de Pontes Peebles

"As seamstresses, the young sisters Emilia and Luzia dos Santos know how to cut, how to mend, and how to conceal. These are useful skills in the lawless backcountry of Brazil, where ruthless land barons called 'colonels' feud with bands of outlaw cangaceiros, trapping innocent residents in the cross fire. 

Emilia, whose knowledge of the world comes from fashion magazines and romance novels, dreams of falling in love with a gentleman and escaping to the big city. Luzia also longs to escape their little town, where residents view her with suspicion and pity. Scarred by a childhood accident that left her with a deformed arm, the quick-tempered Luzia finds her escape in sewing and in secret prayers to the saints she believes once saved her life.

But when Luzia is abducted by a group of cangaceiros led by the infamous Hawk, the sisters' quiet lives diverge in ways they never imagined."


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Hey blog! It's been a while! I started reading this book in June. And then I spent the rest of the summer moving from Colorado to Los Angeles. I'm now settled and back to reading. 

I loved this book. Absolutely loved it. The storyline reads as a little bit tired. Another book about two sisters, one who likes traditional things, the other who loves adventure. One who's submissive, one who takes no shit. Been there, done that. And superficially, yes, that's the storyline here. And I admit that it took me a while to care all that much about Emilia, the traditional/submissive sister. But my love for Luzia kept me coming back to the book. And, in the end, Emilia won me over too. 

It's also a great piece of historical fiction. Cangacieros did rule the backcountry of Brazil in the 1920s-30s. There really was a revolution. And a drought. And, of course, The Great Depression. There was also something happening in Germany around that time, and it makes a somewhat surprise appearance in the trajectory of Brazil. I want to know more about this era in Brazil, and I really want to know what happened next... 

Botswana - Maru

Book #22: Maru - Bessie Head

"Margaret Cadmore, an orphaned Masarwa girl, comes to Dilepe to teach, only to discover that in this remote Botswana village her own people are treated as outcasts. In the love story and intrigue that follows, Bessie Head brilliantly combines a portrait of loneliness with a rich affirmation of the mystery and spirituality of life."

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Margaret Cadmore is an orphan who was raised by a the wife of a missionary (also named Margaret Cadmore). Margaret is a Marsawa, an untouchable. When she arrives in the village of Dilepe, ready to teach at the school, the villagers at first assume that she is "a coloured" - which seems to translate into a biracial person. This would be bad, but not nearly as horrible as being an untouchable. When she tells Pete, the principal of the school, that she is a Marsawa, he assumes that the village elders, specifically Maru and Moleka, will demand that she be fired, as they would not allow someone of her low status to teach in their school. But Pete's plans to fire Margaret hit a snag when he realizes that the most respected teacher at the school, Dikeledi, has befriended Margaret. I'm going to stop describing the plot at this point, because I don't want to give it away. But add politics, spirituality, superstition, love, sex, and betrayal (not necessarily in that order), and you've got "Maru." 

I thoroughly enjoyed this short but expansive book! 

Bosnia and Herzegovina - How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone

Book #21: How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone - Saša Stanišić

"For young Aleksandar - the best magician in the non-aligned states and painter of unfinished things - life is endowed with a mythic quality in the Bosnian town of Višegrad, a rich playground for his imagination. When his grandfather dies, Aleks channels his storytelling talent to help with his grief. 

It is a gift he calls on again when the shadow of war spreads to Višegrad, and the world as he knows it stops. Though Aleks and his family flee to Germany, he is haunted by his past - and by Asija, the mysterious girl he tried to save. Desperate to learn of her fate, Aleks returns to his hometown on the anniversary of his grandfather's death to discover what became of her and the life he left behind."

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I both loved and struggled to get through this book. I struggled, because much of the book is told from Aleksandar's childish POV. And it's often really hard to follow. Characters don't always have names, they have descriptions (ex: The Three-Dot-Ellipsis-Man, who speaks...like...this...). And trying to figure out how some of the characters relate to the main character and/or the overall storyline is frustrating at times. 

Eventually, I started skimming over those parts of the story and focused on the main themes: A young Bosnian boy, whose mother is Muslim, has to flee his small hometown during the 1992 Bosnian war. Along the way, he meets a young girl named Asija, a fellow refugee, who is hiding in the same cellar. Their families get separated, but Aleks never forgets her. Over the next 10 years, he sends her letters - though he doesn't know her last name. And then he tries calling random numbers, hoping to find her. Does he succeed? Guess you'll have to read the book to find out.