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5.0 out of 5 stars
"There are certain things about me, Sep 25 2008
... that I won't reveal to you until you understand...", Hannah Musgrave tells her readers. She is the central axis of this rich and engaging tale of one woman's journey from a privileged childhood to quiet life on a farm in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. The interim period, however, is dramatic and unconventional. She drops out of her middle class life as a young student, frustrated with the comfort of that life and the people around her. Joining the Weathermen Underground in the early nineteen seventies, she participates at the fringe of the movement. Eventually she escapes to West Africa and settles for an extensive period in Liberia, witnessing the overthrow of the corrupt pro-US president Tolbert by the brutal regime of Samuel Doe, a lowly military officer, and the complete collapse of the Liberian society, ending with the no less violent regime of Charles Taylor.
Now in her late fifties, she is recounting her story, divulging her varied life experiences in different episodes and on a need-to-know basis. Russell Banks captures her voice convincingly, getting into her mind, as well as, he explained elsewhere, "being her very close trusted male friend" who listens empathetically to her story. Will the reader do the same?
Hannah's account is of herself against the backdrop of dramatic circumstances. As the revelations progress, the readers are able to see beyond her words and messages and paint a more comprehensive picture of Hannah's strengths and weaknesses than she can herself. Bank is brilliant in providing the tools for such a process. Factual descriptions of her surroundings unwittingly divulge more of her persona than she intends, adding depth and incisiveness to her version of events. In Liberia, for example, Hannah has more than enough opportunities to engage with the political and serious societal issues at hand, yet, she stays again on the sidelines. Having married a middle ranking Liberian government official, she lives a life of privilege with her three sons. While analyzing, with hindsight, her status as the American "darling" among the political elite of the country and reflecting on her complex emotions for her parents, her lovers, her husband and children, the only deep love and affection she admits to feeling is for a group of suffering chimpanzees. Why? What made her this reserved and distant observer of life?
Banks tackles challenging issues with his novel: race, for example is a recurring thread throughout Hanna's story. In her youth, Hannah displayed her solidarity with African-Americans, yet in Liberia, she is not able to comfortably relate to her African in-laws and their traditions. The author accurately depicts the tumultuous conditions in Liberia during Hannah's life there and gives her account authenticity. The special relationship between Liberia, established in 1847 by African-American returnees, mainly freed slaves, and the US is still evident. The role of the CIA and the American diplomats are made explicit as Hannah constantly feels both their friendship and scrutiny. The Americo-Liberians have maintained their privileged position in comparison to the indigenous African population. Woodrow Sundiata, Hannah's husband, while vividly drawn, comes across more as a composite of many facets of what could be a "typical" African bureaucrat: insensitive and ambitious, yet malleable to the powers to be, and expecting privileges through gaining a white American "trophy" wife. With her as a wife, Hannah reflects in retrospect, "Woodrow was exotic, a little sexy, and possibly dangerous, as if his newly consecrated American connection gave him access to power and information that were unavailable to other Liberians, even among the elite."
Another thread in the novel that gives the reader food for thought, revolves around deep emotions or the lack thereof, or establishing where "home" is and what it means for somebody on the run or underground for a large part of her life. Hannah always felt that departures are quick and painless, long tearful good-byes uncalled for. Yet, sitting at her farm now, she wonders about her Liberian home, the destiny of her children. Could she reconcile her life with that of her parents? It is up to the reader to explore those questions with Hannah and draw their own conclusions. Banks novel is very worth the effort. [Friederike Knabe]
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