Book Recommendations: April

My energy for writing is feeling slightly low this weekend so I’ll keep this lot of book recommendations as brief as possible!

Fiction

The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste

This was a thought-provoking piece of literary fiction, and a book that I wish I could have studied. I feel like there is so much more context and meaning that I could get from this if I looked at it in-depth.

In short, this novel follows Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, but focuses primarily on the Ethiopian women who fought against the Italians. Some scenes were truly harrowing, but the book never felt overly pessimistic or morbid.

Ethiopia is an interesting country in historical terms because, although it was occupied by Italy at this time, it is one of the only African countries not to be officially colonised by European forces (that’s one for a pub quiz). Indeed, Mengiste examined the relationship between the Italians and the Ethiopians in her prose, most interestingly so through an Italian war photographer who had a relationship with one of the book’s female protagonists, Hirut.

Through this photographer–subject relationship, Mengiste gestured towards the symbolic act of ‘taking’ photos. She draws attention to the word ‘taking’ as an act of taking away. Is taking a photo of someone an act of taking something from/of them to keep for yourself – particularly in this context, where exoticisation and exploitation were rife? Mengiste also highlights the parallels between ‘shooting’ a photo and violent shooting, making me consider the violence of this white male gaze on the female Ethiopian soldiers.

All in all, it was a captivating read which, using language powerfully but accessibly to provide insight into a little-studied but very significant piece of European and African history.

American Dirt, Jeanine Cummins

A book that captivated my heart and then broke it (for more than one reason). Read my full commentary here.

Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Although I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun (which I read last August), this was still a great read. It followed the stories of Ifemelu and Obinze, teenage lovers and close friends, as they left Nigeria and emigrated to the US and UK, respectively.

I loved how Adichie integrated Ifemelu’s blog posts into the end of many chapters, so I saw her retrospective (and often very witty) commentary on the situations and conversations she found herself in. It was a perceptive look at attitudes towards race in the US from an outside-in perspective of an American African who often found herself at odds with African Americans.

Adichie is great at creating characters that you find yourself rooting for despite their flaws, and at crafting person-centred narratives which also successfully provide a perceptive commentary on societal (and global) issues.

Non-Fiction

Diary of a Young Naturalist, Dara McAnulty

In the last year I have found a serious love for nature writing. I really admire anyone who can translate the unthinkable grace and spontaneity of the natural world into elevated and thoughtful prose. (My teenage self would definitely think that my 23-year-old self is incredibly lame.)

Diary of a Young Naturalist falls into this category and I seriously enjoyed this little piece of escapism. This book was simultaneously a beautiful description of the Irish countryside, a rallying cry to protect the climate, and a sensitive insight into living with autism. And Dara McAnulty wrote it when he was only 14. I am very excited for the future when I think about the talent, passion, and awareness that teenagers today have.

TV

POSE, FX Productions

I have been completely captured by POSE over the last few weeks. Set in the late 80s and early 90s in New York, POSE centres around the underground ballroom culture of the gay and trans community at this time.

Heartbreaking one second and completely uplifting the next, this show is a testament to its evident commitment to representation: with its cast of gay and trans actors, everything about the show is so well thought-out and clearly comes from the heart. Each character is flawed and perfect all at once and I’m always rooting for them all, even in their darkest moments.

POSE also does what I admired so much about It’s a Sin earlier in the year in capturing the beauty of finding a chosen family when the rest of the world resents your existence. The sheer glamour, opulence, and fabulousness of ballroom coexists with the poverty and precarity of existence that weighs on all of their shoulders. For me, this show is the perfect mixture of escapism and education.