Land Of My Fathers

by Vamba Sherif

The proud Republic of Liberia was founded in the nineteenth-century with the triumphant return of the freed slaves from America to Africa. Once back “home,” however, these Americo-Liberians had to integrate with the resident tribes—who did not want or welcome them. Against a background of French and British colonialists busily carving up Mother Africa, while local tribes were still unashamedly trading in slaves . . . the vulnerable newcomers felt trapped and out of place. Where men should have stood shoulder to shoulder, they turned on each other instead.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Liberia, Africa

210 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Vamba Sherif is a novelist, essayist, speaker, book and film critic. He’s a lecturer in African Literature at Leiden University. His work has appeared in many languages, including Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, Polish, and the Indian Malayalam. He has also published essays, stories, film reviews, columns and opinion pieces in The New York Times, the German Kulturaustausch, African Writing, Trouw, Volkskrant, NRC and ZAM-Magazine, among many others. With Ebissé Rouw, he compiled Black: Afro-European literature in the Netherlands and Belgium, a unique anthology of Afro-European experience in the Low Countries. About his work the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung wrote: 'Vamba Sherif creates whirlpools of Shakespearean intensity.'

Reviews

[Maxwell]

Before picking this book, if you had asked me anything about the country of Liberia, I wouldn't have been able to tell you a single thing. What I enjoyed most about this book was the experience of learning about a very real history through a fictional story. I love how literature can open our minds to experiences and knowledge we'd otherwise easily go through life not having.

The story starts in the 1800s when Edward Richard, a freedman, heads to the recently established country of Liberia. Along with tens of thousands of other Black Americans in that period, Richard is heading back to the continent from which his ancestors were taken in the slave trade. However, once he arrives he realizes the indigenous Liberians, especially those on the interior of this country, have no desire to share their land with, who they perceive to be, colonizers. Thus begins a complex history of a nation told through the perspective of three characters.

The novel jumps forward in each section to a new character to showcase the conflict of land impacted by war, both internal and external. I appreciated how Sherif balanced history with fictional stories. He implants in the characters a symbolism for the larger group of people, and yet keeps them human with their own passions, histories and struggles.

[Rebecca]

Originally published in 1999, this is the second novel available in English from Vamba Sherif, a Liberia-born journalist now settled in the Netherlands. It opens in the United States in the 19th century, where Edward Richards, son of a slave woman and her white master, is enslaved on a plantation. Sarah, the master’s daughter, has taught him to read, but Edward’s stepfather attempts to counterbalance her influence by teaching him snippets of the Vai language and telling the boy about Liberia, where Edward eventually travels as a missionary. I wasn’t always gripped by the story or convinced by the language (not a translation, though it reads like one), but this is an unusual look at the aftermath of slavery and the cycles of war that have affected many African countries over the past two centuries.

See my full review at Nudge.

[Marcia]

Prachtig generatieoverschrijdend familieverhaal over de oorsprong van Liberia.

[Sanne]

This review is on the Dutch edition of this book. From the other reviews I gather that the English edition has some changes to the structure of the novel, and perhaps also the contents, as the Dutch edition doesn't start with Edward's story.

I really enjoyed the first part of the novel, which was set in the 19th century. Sherif paints a wonderful picture of the lives of free African-Americans making their way to Liberia and village life in a small Bembé community. I thought Halay's section was particularly strong.
The second part, however, I did not like. It was set in the late 20th century, but it lacked the focus of the first part. The author was juggling a lot of characters whose role in the story wasn't always clear to me, and the point he was trying to make fell flat.

Considering that this was his debut novel, I'm interested to read a more recent work of his to see how Sherif developed his skills.

[Rubí Santander]

"He never resigned to his fate but believed that slavery was doomed to fail, instilling in us the conviction that freedom was just around the corner and that one day we would all return to Africa, to our origins."

[Andrew Spink]

When I started reading this book I thought it was going to be a rather preachy book about the iniquities of slavery and prepared myself to struggle through it. But I was soon proved wrong. The book is written in a very creative way spanning continents and generations and from an unusual perspective.

In a couple of weeks the author is giving a lecture here in Wageningen and I'm already looking forward to that...
Update; the 'lecture' was an informal group in a local café and very interesting. We heard about how the personal experiences of the author and his family had influenced the book and as a result had a much better understanding of it.

[Richard Derus]

Real Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: The proud Republic of Liberia was founded in the 19th century with the triumphant return of the freed slaves from America to Africa.

Once back 'home', however, these Americo-Liberians had to integrate with the resident tribes—who did not want or welcome them. Against a background of French and British colonialists busily carving up Mother Africa, while local tribes were still unashamedly trading in slaves . . . the vulnerable newcomers felt trapped and out of place.

Land of My Fathers plunges us into this world. But in the midst of turmoil, there is friendship. Edward Richard, a man born into slavery and a preacher by profession, is convinced that the future of Liberia lies in bringing peace amongst the tribes. His mission takes him to the far north, where he meets an extraordinary man, Halay. Edward's new and dearest friend is ready to sacrifice his own life to protect his country; for the Liberians believe that with Halay's death, no war will ever threaten their land. A century later, this belief is crushed when war engulfs the land, bearing away with it the descendants of both Edward and Halay. The story of Halay is the untold story of Liberia. What he did would come to stand as symbol of man's ability to defy the odds, to face the inevitable head on.

Where men should have stood shoulder to shoulder, they turned on each other instead.

I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

My Review: Human beings are vile. They are irredeemable. Sweeping statements, condemnatory and accusatory, all-inclusive, and deeply heartfelt. Want to know why? Read this novel about Liberia's history.

I'd wager big money against most people in the US being able to find Liberia on a map, or identify its flag correctly. This one:

...clearly modeled after the US flag, meant to align the new nation with the US principles of equality and freedom. Well...in a curious way it did. The native inhabitants of the country now called Liberia weren't in any great hurry to welcome these dark-skinned colonizers.

To tell his story as a story, not a sermon, Author Vamba Sherif uses a multigenerational structure tracking the developments of Liberian history. It's pretty much all new to me. I was interested in all the details salted through the story. I was always glad to return to the read. I'm deaccessioning my lovely hardcover but I can't say enough about the beautiful design and quality execution of the hardcover.

The story being told is of the same level of craft. It was deeply involving, it presented the disasters of human history in humane terms, giving the reader people to invest in and then giving those people the fates suffered by many millions like them.

I can't say I feel uplifted by this tale of venality, of carefully fanned hatreds overtaking the weakest of human emotions: Kindness.

I recommend the read to all who need a primer on the West African historical disaster that is Liberia.

[Roger Van Loon]

‘Als ik in het woud wandelde zag ik de lelies in het moeras, ik hoorde het gekwaak van een kikker en het gekwetter van de vogels, ik snoof de zoete geur van de bloemen op en genoot van de zachte boswind, de prachtige patronen die het zonlicht tekende op de grond. Ik ontdekte dat ik ook hier gelukkig kon zijn, in dat woud, dicht bij de schoonheid en de stilte. Blij keerde ik dan terug naar huis, in de overtuiging dat ik begon te begrijpen waarom moeder lachte terwijl vader huilde. Het kaam misschien door het gevoel dat ze leefde, net als ik, net als wij allemaal.’ P170

Een mooie literaire vertelling de ontmoeting en samenkomst van een voormalige slaaf uit Amerika en een Liberiaanse zoon van een stamhoofd. Het verhaal komt daarin mooi samen: verschillende werelden, samensmelting, begrip, nieuwsgierigheid, angst voor wat het nieuwe Liberia zal brengen... En dan is er ineens een moderne vertelling twee generaties later en een onnavolgbare vertelling over de ontwikkeling van het dorp door middel van het verleden en het heden die de toekomst voortdurend vormen. Het verhaal stokt daar en is bijna een apart boek ten opzichte van het originele en mooie verhaal van Edward en Halay. Door de mooi gekozen literaire verwoording toch nog drie sterren.

[Witoldzio]

The first part of this novel is really good, and then, gradually, things get worse. By the end, I was struggling to go on. To be honest, I actually like imperfect novels, they give me a lot of food for thought about what went wrong with the novel and why. I think the first half was written with great care, and the second half in a hurry, likely from scraps of notes, diaries, fragmentary memories. Possibly this was intentional, because a land of great promise became a land of war and there was a sense of spiritual displacement and at least disillusionment.
Vamba Sherif writes very elegant prose and has his own unique style. I enjoyed reading the book, but the actual story somehow didn't excite me, although a concept of an intergenerational saga told in just 270 pages is interesting.
This was his first novel (1999) and he must have evolved a lot since then. I was also glad to read a novel about Liberia and learn a little about the land.

[Anne Goodwin]

Land of My Fathers is a fictional history of Liberia, the West African coastal country founded in the nineteenth century by returning emancipated slaves, told through the eyes of one family who made their home in a city in the forested interior. It begins with Edward Richard, born a slave on an American plantation who travels to Liberia both to bring Christianity to the natives and to be reunited with the woman he loves.
Full review Beyond the slave plantations http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post/...

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the March 2017 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...