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A review by krilves
The Book Of Echoes by Rosanna Amaka
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book didn't instantly grab me - actually at first, I wasn't even sure that I liked it. I wasn't keen on the narrative style and the jumps in time and location, but over time the book became absolutely engrossing. It's possible that my initial dislike was actually just subconscious racism and I'll own that (I know that this is an actual barrier of entry for Black people to get published in the first place; white editors will reject their stories on basis of "didn't grab me", "I couldn't relate" etc. it's more complex than I'm staying here but for brevity let's leave it at that, so I was already aware before reading this book that this is a bias I may have to overcome, and that I now think I definitely need to be more conscious of).
So anyway, the book did become absolutely engrossing to me, as I got used to the style and as I realised, on a literary level, what the author was doing and why she chose this narrative framing. It's not just clever: it tells a richer story.
This book was sold to me as a warm-hearted story about survival. I don't think I agree - I mean, it's not *wrong*, but what I think this story is about at its core is healing. There is a lot of pain in this book, but ultimately the story is about healing from that pain. The narrative frame weaves together the story of a young woman stolen away into slavery, the story of a young woman of a lower-class status growing up in Nigeria and trying to build a better life for herself and her family, and the story of a young man of Jamaican descent growing up in Brixton and also trying to build a better life for himself and his family. What unites the three of them is the pain and generational trauma of slavery (and no punches are pulled - I especially appreciated the inclusion of Scottish slave owners as this is something I've only recently learned about) but also the love and kindness and willingness to open up and shed fears that eventually heals them. It is heavily implied that Ngozi and Michael are descendants of the young woman who narrates the book, and that them finding each other is a part of the healing process from the trauma they and their ancestors have suffered at the hands of white men. At the same time their story is a kind of parable - this book cautions and encourages and preaches, from a place of love and hope and despair, that the way forward, the path to healing, is through finding and supporting and loving one another. To be clear, this message is aimed at Black people, not us white folks.
In the end, this is a beautiful book. I cried at the end.
So anyway, the book did become absolutely engrossing to me, as I got used to the style and as I realised, on a literary level, what the author was doing and why she chose this narrative framing. It's not just clever: it tells a richer story.
This book was sold to me as a warm-hearted story about survival. I don't think I agree - I mean, it's not *wrong*, but what I think this story is about at its core is healing. There is a lot of pain in this book, but ultimately the story is about healing from that pain. The narrative frame weaves together the story of a young woman stolen away into slavery, the story of a young woman of a lower-class status growing up in Nigeria and trying to build a better life for herself and her family, and the story of a young man of Jamaican descent growing up in Brixton and also trying to build a better life for himself and his family. What unites the three of them is the pain and generational trauma of slavery (and no punches are pulled - I especially appreciated the inclusion of Scottish slave owners as this is something I've only recently learned about) but also the love and kindness and willingness to open up and shed fears that eventually heals them. It is heavily implied that Ngozi and Michael are descendants of the young woman who narrates the book, and that them finding each other is a part of the healing process from the trauma they and their ancestors have suffered at the hands of white men. At the same time their story is a kind of parable - this book cautions and encourages and preaches, from a place of love and hope and despair, that the way forward, the path to healing, is through finding and supporting and loving one another. To be clear, this message is aimed at Black people, not us white folks.
In the end, this is a beautiful book. I cried at the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Racism
Minor: Rape, Police brutality, and Miscarriage
this book deals heavily with slavery and the resulting generational trauma and racism.