paperback, 592 pages
Published May 5, 2020 by Hogarth.
WINNER OF: The Arthur C. Clarke Award - The Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award - The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction - The Windham-Campbell Prizes for Fiction
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 …
WINNER OF: The Arthur C. Clarke Award - The Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award - The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction - The Windham-Campbell Prizes for Fiction
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.
Excellent storytelling! The Old Drift follows three families across three generations of Zambian history from British colony to the near future. Their stories intertwine in unexpected ways and show the human effects of colonisation and its aftermath in Central Africa.
