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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Marked as read at 87% after over a year of being paused.
I really loved this book. Historical fiction and intergenerational stories are my jam, and this book has those elements. I learnt a lot about the history of Sudan and South Sudan.
I read it for a bookclub, and only got 90% through by the discussion date. And then after the discussion date I never got around to finishing it.
I really loved this book. Historical fiction and intergenerational stories are my jam, and this book has those elements. I learnt a lot about the history of Sudan and South Sudan.
I read it for a bookclub, and only got 90% through by the discussion date. And then after the discussion date I never got around to finishing it.
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A beautifully written story about a period that was crucial in Sudanese history. That could mislead you into thinking it's about war and leaders, and while people like the Mahdi and British General "Chinese" Gordon are crucial to it, this is not their story. Instead, it's about a variety of women and men, mostly Muslim although in quite different ways, and how they navigate love and faith in a time of increasing violence.
It's refreshing to me after reading various perspectives from the U.K. and the U.S. to read one that's truly from a Sudanese perspective. The author also manages to express the viewpoints of both women and men in ways that ring true. Even when you don't like a character (like Robert), they are not cardboard villains but people you would recognize if you could travel back in time to the 1880's and meet them in the marketplace.
The book could use a glossary.
It's refreshing to me after reading various perspectives from the U.K. and the U.S. to read one that's truly from a Sudanese perspective. The author also manages to express the viewpoints of both women and men in ways that ring true. Even when you don't like a character (like Robert), they are not cardboard villains but people you would recognize if you could travel back in time to the 1880's and meet them in the marketplace.
The book could use a glossary.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
A mixture of being ill and poor concentration span - I like the setting and the writing was ok enough but a multi-character theme where half of them are forgettable muddied it too much for me. Probably a me thing, would love to read more Sudanese literature, however.
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
LOVE the historical setting of the late nineteenth-century Mahdist Revolt in Sudan, rather lukewarm about the myriad characters from whose POVs the novel unfurls.
Good story but the multiple perspectives can get distracting.
challenging
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, Classism
Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy