White

by Deni Ellis Béchard

Assigned to write an expos� on Richmond Hew, one of the most elusive and corrupt figures in the conservation world, a journalist finds himself on a plane to the Congo, a country he thinks he understands. But when he meets Sola, a woman looking for a rootless white orphan girl who believes herself possessed by a skin-stealing demon, he slowly uncovers a tapestry of corruption and racial tensions generations in the making.

This harrowing search leads him into an underground network of sinners and saints--and straight to the heart of his own complicity. An anthropologist who treats orphans like test subjects. A community of charismatic Congolese preachers. Street children who share accounts of abandonment and sexual abuse. A renowned and revered conservationist who vanishes. And then there is the journalist himself, lost in his own misunderstanding of privilege and the myth of whiteness, and plagued by traumatic memories of his father. At first seemingly unrelated, these disparate elements coalesce one by one into a map of Richmond Hew's movements.

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

Published October 9, 2018

Reviews

[Sabrina Blais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce livre est très bien écrit et la prémisse est intéressante, mais je trouve que l’histoire était confuse par moment. Je trouvais aussi la fin précipitée, à mon avis. Malgré tout j’ai bien aimé le roman.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting. There were parts that made me think it was going somewhere really good rather than rehashing familiar-seeming tropes and devices, but then it didn't. By the time I finished reading the 'Afterword', however, I guessed that was the point. The last three pages of the afterword could either be the author being clever and showing that he'd created a flawed narrator because that's the story he wanted to write - or perhaps it's even the author saying that he purposely created a flawed narrator as a way of acknowledging that he perhaps isn't able to present the issues described in an unbiased way without falling into some kind of stereotyping along the way.

I guess I could've thought of that earlier in the book when the narrator's self-absorbed tone irked me, but it ended up making the afterword the best part of the book, putting it in the light needed to appreciate it.
I have a suspicion I could get a lot out of rereading this (probably more so if I actually read Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' first...).

*EDIT*
This is an interview with the author that definitely explains the narrator aspect more: https://www.forewordreviews.com/artic...

Quote from it: 'I wanted to explore the ways that white people can, in many ways, be “painfully self-aware,” as you say, while also being part of a racist culture that we reinforce with our actions. By making the fictional aspect of the character questionable, I hoped to introduce an element of discomfort. It is far easier to judge a fictional character while assuming that the author is self-aware and writing from a moral high ground than it is to question whether the author himself deserves to be judged and even read.'
I strongly recommend reading the interview... it's a lot more helpful than my review.

This does make me curious to read some of his other works.

[JL Salty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: pg-13 for child prostitution - not explicit but very much a part of the story. Some profanity.
Recommend: adult readers. This book tackles racism from a new angle, thoughtfully written.

I think the “journalist” narrator gave this book an avenue to ask questions that might not normally be tackled directly, especially perhaps by a white author. Did not love the magical realism feel - it’s never been my favorite genre - but I think it presented some plot lines that helped the author make his point.

Interview from the author: https://www.forewordreviews.com/artic...
And go read Judith’s review - she said a lot of the things I was thinking.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started promisingly enough but lost focus and got weird. There were some very interesting and salient points made but the outcome was so abrupt it didn’t make sense. Overall the book just didn’t hang together. 2.5 rounded up because it was an interesting book to discuss in book group.

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope. Purposefully echoes Heart of Darkness, and has a similar alienating and off-putting feel. It's the point, but I couldn't intellectualize it enough to appreciate... I just didn't like it and don't think it does what it's meant to do.

[Kia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it was like looking into a hall of mirrors. Accurate and searing description of white supremacy and imperialism.

[Kappy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and unique perspective on Congo - and how race plays into perceptions. Clever

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling novel that raises hard questions around colonialism and capitalism and the intersections with race.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I (kind of) listened to Heart of Darkness on audiobook last year, but couldn't get into it at all and ended up paying very little attention and getting very little enjoyment. This audiobook was more interesting to me than that one, despite its constant references to Kurtzes. I don't know that I really enjoyed it a whole lot more though. I was certainly confused by the end at how much of the book was fiction vs. based on the author's real life. Is that an attribute people like in books? If so, read this book!

[Noémie Courtois · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plutôt un 3.5
J’ai aimé l’histoire, le style d’écriture et les inclusions concernant la vie de l’auteur, mais on dirait que je ne me suis pas attachée au livre, ni aux personnages. La réflexion que le livre alimente est pourtant très intéressante, mais encore une fois, on dirait que tout ça était très loin de moi ( je ne sais pas vraiment comment l’expliquer). J’ai cependant hâte de lire les autres livres de cet auteur!

[Catheriiine J · Rating 2 out of 5]

J'ai été un peu déçue. J'ai l'impression que la mauvaise histoire a été écrite. L'histoire de la petite fille me semblait plus intéressante que celle sur laquelle le focus a été mis.