I was actually intimidated to pick up this novel because I have had this on my shelf since early last year but I have only just picked it up. But there was nothing to be intimidated about because it has quickly become a book I love. I think out of everything, it is the writing that is absolutely stunning. It is a book set in Sierra Leone in the late 1960s and it’s set in the backdrop of civil war and the postcolonial struggles that society was adjusting to.
The only issue I had with this novel was probably the point of view. I can see why the point of view was necessary for the plot but I would have preferred had it been just Elias and Adrian’s- I don’t think Kai’s was really necessary. Honestly, I would have loved seeing a point of view from the women, specifically Saffia’s because women were central to the plot and narrative and the fact we had a lack of a women’s voice kind of disappointed me.
The novel itself was written so beautifully we have this main story which has a story within it and I love those types of narratives. It is a tale of obsession, of love, of betrayal that is so effortlessly juxtaposed and it is just so beautiful but so depressing at the same time. If ever the government look into decolonising the curriculum this novel is amazing to have as a set text. Not only are the themes and issues important and timely but the analysis you can get out from it is truly just astonishing, as I was reading I kept on thinking about analysis and themes and how they interweave, it was my literary geekiness coming out. Especially those harmattan lilies- if you read this book you know what I am talking about.
The storyline is written so intricately that such a small detail or memory, the event is vital for the plot. There is so much in this book that it explores betrayal, loss, and of course love. It explores post-traumatic stress and its dangers of it. I would highly recommend this novel! 4.85 rounded up.
This novel was also picked for the Jubilee read in which they celebrate great books across the Commonwealth. See the full list here-BBC Arts - BBC Arts - A literary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign
Favourite quotes-
'Beginnings are so hard to trace. Perhaps we three would each put the beginning in a different place, like blindfolded players trying to pin the tail on a donkey'.
'And when he wakes from dreaming of her, is it not the same for him? The hollowness in his chest, the tense yearning, the loneliness he braces against every morning until he can immerse himself in work and forget. Not love. Something else, something with a power that endures. Not love, but a memory of love'.
'There is a quality to grief, I know. Like the first rains after the dry seasons. At first it fails, slides off the soil, rolling away in the dust of disbelief. But each day brings fresh rain'.
'I knew how much pain she suffered. I also knew she would survive. For in the end, people always do'.
'The more education a person has recieved, the more capable of articulating their experiences they are. Also of intellectualising them, of course. Those with less education tend to express their conflicts physically through violence or psychosomatically: deafness, blindness, muteness, paralysis, hallucinations - visual and olfactory'.
See this review and others on Goodreads- Fiz|فيز (on semi-hiatus) (The United Kingdom)’s review of The Memory of Love | Goodreads
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