Title: Out of Darkness, Shining Light           

Author: Petina Gappah             

Genre: Historical Fiction         

Publisher: Scribner         

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars 

Synopsis (Goodreads):

“This is how we carried out of Africa the poor broken body of Bwana Daudi, the Doctor, David Livingstone, so that he could be borne across the sea and buried in his own land.” So begins Petina Gappah’s powerful novel of exploration and adventure in nineteenth-century Africa—the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried explorer and missionary Dr. Livingstone’s body, his papers and maps, fifteen hundred miles across the continent of Africa, so his remains could be returned home to England and his work preserved there. Narrated by Halima, the doctor’s sharp-tongued cook, and Jacob Wainwright, a rigidly pious freed slave, this is a story that encompasses all of the hypocrisy of slavery and colonization—the hypocrisy at the core of the human heart—while celebrating resilience, loyalty, and love. 

Review:

Thank you @simonschusterca for the copy of this book!

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I was really excited to read this book! I I teach this subject every year, and I’m always looking for new perspectives and voices when teaching colonialism and imperialism! The book is about the death of Dr. Livingstone, who went missing in Africa, and the explorer Henry Morton Stanley is sent to go and find him. While Stanley is definitely in the book, this interaction does not play a key role in the book, but only glimpses. The book really centres around Livingstone’s cook, as well as a preacher who was previously enslaved. I was really looking forward to getting the Indigenous African perspective on Livingstone, as mostly what we get is the colonial perspective. But I was just not hooked to either perspective for some reason. I’m not sure if it’s because the book jumped around, or if one of the perspectives was in a diary entry mode, but I just couldn’t immerse myself in this story. I think it’s very important to read works about multiple perspectives, but this one was really about the death of Livingstone and how those around him reacted to it, and I just couldn’t get hooked into the characters and what they were feeling! I still encourage you to check this out yourself though if this is a topic that interests you! If you do read it, I would love to discuss your thoughts on the book! 

Happy reading!