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A review by ladydzra
The Attic Child by Lola Jaye
I could not finish this book. I am purposefully not including a "star" review, because (a) I did not finish it, and (b) stars don't reflect nuance. I think this book addresses an important, overlooked area of British imperialism (give Ndugu M’Hali a Google), but it's just not the book for me.
The dual-timeline story is told from the points of view of Dikembe, a Congolese boy who is sold as a "companion" to a British explorer in the early 1900s, and Lowra, a modern British woman who is navigating her past familial traumas when her family home is put up for sale. The two stories begin to converge as Lowra researches Dikembe's fate after she discovers connections to him through said family home.
Dikembe's story is touching and heartbreaking. Lowra's could have been subtitled "woman learns about racism". Maybe I'm just not currently in the right headspace to appreciate Lowra's story, but I gave up when her research companion, an expert in African history, needed to explain to her the daily microaggressions he faces as a Black man. I understand the value of characters who explore and try to understand their privilege, but Lowra is, at the point I am giving up on this book, a little more willfully ignorant than I can handle.
This is not a lighthearted read: colonialism, racism, violence against children, family death, mental trauma, PTSD, and more abound.
The dual-timeline story is told from the points of view of Dikembe, a Congolese boy who is sold as a "companion" to a British explorer in the early 1900s, and Lowra, a modern British woman who is navigating her past familial traumas when her family home is put up for sale. The two stories begin to converge as Lowra researches Dikembe's fate after she discovers connections to him through said family home.
Dikembe's story is touching and heartbreaking. Lowra's could have been subtitled "woman learns about racism". Maybe I'm just not currently in the right headspace to appreciate Lowra's story, but I gave up when her research companion, an expert in African history, needed to explain to her the daily microaggressions he faces as a Black man. I understand the value of characters who explore and try to understand their privilege, but Lowra is, at the point I am giving up on this book, a little more willfully ignorant than I can handle.
This is not a lighthearted read: colonialism, racism, violence against children, family death, mental trauma, PTSD, and more abound.