Showing results by author "Imbolo Mbue" in All Categories

We should have known the end was near. So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful second novel, How Beautiful We Were. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made - and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests.

Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself; his wife, Neni; and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty - and Jende is eager to please. Clark's wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses' summer home in the Hamptons.

Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, How Beautiful We Were tells the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean-up and financial reparations to the villagers are made-and ignored. The country's government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interest only. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back.

A powerful and timely story of marriage, class, race and the pursuit of the American Dream. Behold the Dreamers is a dazzling debut novel about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - and of what we're prepared to sacrifice to hold on to each of them. 'We all do what we gotta do to become American, Abi.' New York, 2007: a city of dreamers and strivers, where the newly arrived and the long established jostle alike for a place on the ladder of success.

Die Bewohner von Kosawa leben in Angst, denn ein amerikanischer Ölkonzern droht das kleine afrikanische Dorf auszulöschen. Öllecks haben das Ackerland unfruchtbar gemacht; Kinder sterben, weil das Trinkwasser vergiftet ist. Den Menschen aus Kosawa werden Versprechungen über Aufräumarbeiten und finanzielle Reparationen gemacht, die nie eingehalten werden, aber die korrupte Regierung bedient nur ihre eigenen Interessen. Die Dorfbewohner beschließen, sich zu wehren. Ihr Kampf soll Jahrzehnte andauern.

Jende Jonga, ein in New York lebender kamerunischer Einwanderer, ist auf der Suche nach einem besseren Leben für sich, seine Frau Neni und den sechsjährigen Sohn in die USA gekommen. Jende kann sein Glück kaum fassen, als er im Herbst 2007 den Job als Fahrer von Clark Edwards ergattert, einem leitenden Manager bei Lehman Brothers. Clark verlangt Pünktlichkeit, Diskretion und Loyalität - und Jende will um jeden Preis gefallen.