Book Review: The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
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.
The chapter entitled "The Falls" is derived from The Autobiography of An Old Drifter, by the historical figure, Percy M. Clark (1874-1937).
About the Author:
She is a Professor of English at Harvard University. She was Assistant, then Associate, Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley from 2008-2020. Her work of literary criticism, Seven Modes of Uncertainty, was published in 2014 by Harvard University Press. Her book of essays, Stranger Faces (Transit Books, 2020), was long listed for a Believer Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. Her book, American Psycho Analysis, is forthcoming with Columbia University Press.
I purchased the hardcover book in 2019, and had so many other books on my TBR until I came across the Read Soul Lit Summer Readalong Group on Goodreads.com. The book was the July 2021 selection. My perfect opportunity to read this book.
The beginning chapter - “The Falls” is something from The National Geographic Magazine. Wild boars, and antelopes. The Old Drift, significant story elements relate to the Zambezi River, a section of which was called "The Drift" during the late 19th century when early European explorers deemed it a relatively easy place to cross compared with more treacherous gorges, rapids or waterfalls. Also mentioned in the novel, European engineers built a hydroelectric dam at Kariba in the 1950s, forming one of Africa's largest freshwater lakes. Today, Victoria Falls is considered one of the wonders of the world; the sounds of its 300 foot drop can be heard for miles.
The novel is divided into three sections, and depicts complex characters from many racial backgrounds. The first section is “The Grandmothers” - Sibilla is an interesting story about a very hairy lady. Federico and Sibilla flee their homeland, Italy, under mysterious circumstances. Agnes is a blind tennis player, marries Ronald (an interracial couple), and Matha is an intellectual and attended school disguised as a boy. Matha and Godfrey are based on fact. At the height of the Cold War in 1964, a schoolteacher launched the Zambian Space Program with a dozen aspiring teenage astronauts. [1]. The second section is “The Mothers”. Sylvia is a hairstylist, Isabella “Isa” marries Balaji, an Indian merchant. Isa shaves her daughters heads for wigs, and Thandie is a Flight Attendant. The third half of the book - “The Children” was a disappointment to me. Joseph, the son of a mixed race father and a black mom. Jacob is an innovator that designs and builds minidrones, because of his inspiring grandmother, and Naila were my least favorite characters.
The family tree diagram at the beginning of the book was a crucial necessity. Old languages and new are evident through the entire novel. Who was the boy on the bike, hit by a car and left injured? I had to know. How can a territory of many cultures transcend historic conflicts and systematic oppression?
It’s brilliant how Sepell brings the characters together. I stuck with the story, thankfully. I wanted to DNF (Did Not Finish) this book, but my curiosity outdid me. The futuristic elements set the climatic end to the novel in the year 2023, but had some elements that are relatable to today’s matters of climate change, poverty, a pandemic outbreak, and politics. Though entirely fictional the tracking and vaccinating people without consent does not seem at all far-fetched in our day and time.
566 page read had to capture and keep my attention. It faulted in some cases and then reignited in others. Listening to the audiobook was a big plus. The narrator was excellent in bringing the characters to life. Serpell has weaved a complex historical fiction with a compelling settings of Zambia, Italy, England, and India, and delivers an intriguing, delightful, magical, heartbreaking, and challenging novel. Clever wordplay, astonishing prose, tragicomedy intermingled with this multigenerational saga. Impressive!
[1] Serpell, Namwali, The New Yorker, March 11, 2017 - “The Zambian Astronaut Who Wanted to Join the Space Race”
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