From the Bookshelf of Our Shared Shelf…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Great setting & applause to the author for the amount of research. Pity there doesn't seem to be enough pull in the writing to get you through though. Mostly I was quite tired (bored?) of the religious zealousness.. thankfully not a large part of my life! Though I realise those types still exist in the world today. I'd happily try this well acclaimed author's other works but sadly felt the need to skim much of this ending up with 2 stars. Good bits: the contrast of the white US family & the cong
...more
This is a compelling, sometimes however rather slow story, about the problems that occur when Western WASP culture tries to change others to meet their own ideals as seen through the eyes of the daughters of a zealous minister caught-up in the pre, and post-Aparteid of the 1960s. It's also a good book to read as beginning literature to get insight into that time period in Africa's history. It also further confirmed by bias against the concept of missionaries as culture-rapers. So yeah...
...more
A bit slow at times (or maybe I'm just a particularly impatient reader - I feel like I've written that in tons of reviews!), but tells a great story w/excellent social commentary. Warning: You will probably not want an engagement ring (or any other diamond) after reading this book!
...more
Book club pick for the month of July. I have really loved this book for a long time, as well as others by the same author, and we had a great discussion about US involvement in Africa.
Nov 17, 2007
Afshan
marked it as to-read
Jan 29, 2008
Lisa
added it
Nov 09, 2010
Emily
marked it as to-read
Feb 19, 2013
Elizabeth
marked it as to-read
Oct 06, 2013
shannon
marked it as to-read
Aug 09, 2014
Masooma
marked it as to-read
Jul 15, 2016
Darci
added it
