SA Book & Challenge Lovers discussion

Wayne and I will be reading Ancestor Stones by Aminatta Forna as a buddy read in April. This is one of my favourite authors. Please feel free to join us!

I have started and have read approximately 179 pages. Interesting format. Having difficulties wrapping my head around the different streams of narrative. Will most probably become a bit easier when the aunties' storylines start merging.

Yes, it's a bit of a challenge to keep it all together, but I love the tone.

One question I wanted to check with you. At the start of Mariama's story she refers to a story by a Very Famous Author who lost his faith - I assume Heart of Darkness?

Yes, that was my guess. After Heart of Darkness, I did not read anything else of his works, but just googled and he did lose his faith.

Same, it's the only one of his that I read, but it sounded right.

Hi Carolien, I finished this early this morning. Never quite managed to wrap my head around the intricacies of the interwoven lives of the different wives, but relegated it to a minor issue, and focussed instead on how women, in this patriarchal society, experienced colonialism and post-colonialism. I gave it four stars.

Couple of talking points for me, but I will wait to check how far you are with it.

Wayne wrote: "Hi Carolien, I finished this early this morning. Never quite managed to wrap my head around the intricacies of the interwoven lives of the different wives, but relegated it to a minor issue, and fo..."

I think it may be worth giving it a second read at some point and just reading each woman's story end-to-end, because it does become quite a challenge to keep it al together.

Give me 2 days and then I'll be done as well

I was thinking the same - a reread in the not-so-distant future.

One of the things I have to keep going back to is the family tree to remember who are half-sisters. What I didn't appreciate enough in the first section, Stones, was that the father in Asana and Mariama's stories is the same man and so for the other 2.

Yes, Asana, Mariama, Hawa and Serah are all sharing a father. Well, maybe sharing is the wrong word. ;,>)

Wayne wrote: "Yes, Asana, Mariama, Hawa and Serah are all sharing a father. Well, maybe sharing is the wrong word. ;,>)"

The time periods obviously make a different. Mariama has a different experience than Asana in that she goes to school, but not Asana. Serah as the youngest grow up in a different time - cars and trucks are around which is not the case with the older girls.

yes, I agree. The father's wedding season was quite a long one.

It's an interesting approach to tell the history of a country through its women.

One thing that caught my eye in Mariama's final story is her interaction with Adrian Lockheart who is one of the main characters in The Memory of Love which is still me favourite. This is a strong 4 star for me.

Indeed, by amplifying their voices, the author gives us a glance beneath the veil imposed by patriarchy and tradition, and it is clear that these women do use their circumscribed agency to push against the boundaries.

First point that struck me was Abie inheriting the land. In traditional societies women work the land, but ownership often reside in a male member of the family. And here too, Abie reflects that she got the coffee plantation "not in law, not by rights, but because she is perceived to have the power and means to make it productive again.