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How Beautiful We Were

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About this listen

Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, How Beautiful We Were tells the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean-up and financial reparations to the villagers are made-and ignored. The country's government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interest only. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. But their fight will come at a steep price, one which generation after generation will have to pay.

Told through the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula, 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 onto its ancestral land and a young woman's willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people's freedom.

©2020 Imbolo Mbue (P)2020 Canongate Books Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Village Africa

Critic reviews

"A formidable storyteller." (Jonathan Franzen)
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A beautiful and heartbreaking narrative, that rings with truth about the intergeneral damage caused by the colonial and post-colonial world.

Beautiful and heartbreaking

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If you only listen to one audible book this year...make it this one.
Beautifully narrated. A fictional village and country that sadly reflects so much of what is happening in the real world because of the endless greed of those in power.

Heartbreaking reality

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Rarely do I come across a book where I am satisfied with the ending. It has deception, occupation, intrigue, manipulation, corruption, but also love, colour, community, family, loyalty.

At times it feels like you are reading about the future or some other point in time but it’s the way the author carries you through each point in the timeline so fluidly.

If you are looking for emotion, layered perspectives, a story that moves you to thought and feeling. You will find it here.

So many points of relevance about what the world is coming to and what it has been. It feels real because the points raised are subtle but poignant. Not enough to anger or bring great joy but close enough to touch.

Many of us hold a space called Kasawa in our hearts.

This is going in my book club recommendations list. Brilliant narration and flow. My soul needed this

Absolutely brilliant

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I was hooked from the beginning. Sadly this story still happens. In the south of Nigeria where crude oil is extracted is polluted and destroyed. The Nigerian government is too corrupt to care.

Excellent listening

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I found this a really powerful listen - thoughtfully-written, thought-provoking, and with some beautifully considered ideas about community, character and the ethics of exploitation and how this affects them. Mbue’s writing is beautiful, and the narration by several different narrators (all excellent) made for a very satisfying listening experience.

Powerful and thought-provoking

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