Baker&Taylor
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell (used)
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell (used)
Namwali Serpell
Hardcover
“A dazzling debut, establishing Namwali Serpell as a writer on the world stage.”—Salman Rushdie, The New York Times Book Review
“Clear-eyed, energetic and richly entertaining.”—The Washington Post
1904. On the banks of the Zambezi River, a few miles from the majestic Victoria Falls, there is a colonial settlement called The Old Drift. In a smoky room at the hotel across the river, an Old Drifter named Percy M. Clark, foggy with fever, makes a mistake that entangles the fates of an Italian hotelier and an African busboy. This sets off a cycle of unwitting retribution between three Zambian families (black, white, brown) as they collide and converge over the course of the century, into the present and beyond. As the generations pass, their lives—their triumphs, errors, losses and hopes—emerge through a panorama of history, fairytale, romance and science fiction.
From a woman covered with hair and another plagued with endless tears, to forbidden love affairs and fiery political ones, to homegrown technological marvels like Afronauts, microdrones and viral vaccines, this gripping, unforgettable novel is a testament to our yearning to create and cross borders, and a meditation on the slow, grand passage of time.
Praise for The Old Drift
“An intimate, brainy, gleaming epic . . . This is a dazzling book, as ambitious as any first novel published this decade.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
“A founding epic in the vein of Virgil’s Aeneid . . . though in its sprawling size, its flavor of picaresque comedy and its fusion of family lore with national politics it more resembles Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.”—The Wall Street Journal
“A story that intertwines strangers into families, which we’ll follow for a century, magic into everyday moments, and the story of a nation, Zambia.”—NPR
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Set in Zambia, The Old Drift is a magical debut by Namwali Serpell and follows the lives of 3 families, one black, one brown and one white, across three generations - Grandmother, Mother, Daughter. It’s a lot, but a good a lot. From historical fiction and sci-fi to magic realism and romance.
The way Serpell’s writing morphes with each protagonist is amazing. She pulled off something so massive, so effortlessly!
I really enjoyed learning about Zambia from Serpell. This book packs a punch and encompasses Zambia's early colonial history all the way to the fees must fall movement in 2016. You will learn about African aeronaughts, the role the Italians played in Zambia, and the sex lives of Zambian 'women of the night': all in one book! It's a wild and extremely enjoyable ride.
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