BOTM February Reading the Ceiling

[Celia]

Country: Gambia
Translated: No
1001? No
Well Read World? Yes

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Reading the Ceiling is a 2007 novel by Dayo Forster.

The book tells the story of eighteen-year-old Ayodele and explores three paths her life could take. Ayodele is a Gambian schoolgirl entering adulthood. One path takes her to university in England, and another to polygamy and motherhood. Owen Richardson, reviewing the novel in The Age, compared it to Philip Roth's The Counterlife. A reviewer for The Point praised Forster's use of local terminology and accurate portrayal of Gambian society, especially regarding the roles of women.

In 2007, Reading the Ceiling was shortlisted for a Commonwealth Writers' Prize. In 2019 it was one of the New York Times' travel selections, "52 Books for 52 Places."

Forster was born in the Gambia, studied at the London School of Economics, and now lives in Kenya.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading...

[Gail]

Reading the Ceiling felt like a first novel in its use of language but the author’s ambition was impressively large. Forster played with those parts of one’s life which take place because of who you intrinsically are and what parts are impacted by your choices and your fate. Ayodele, our main character, lives three very different lives due to some momentary choices she makes but nevertheless, her relationships with some of her friends, her sisters, her mother and her church, have a commonality to them and her own rather passive motivations remain strangely aligned. I learned a great deal about Gambia and the roles of women in Gambia. I do not think it a brilliant novel, Kate Atkinson’s Life after Life was much more thrilling a read on somewhat the same topic, but it was nevertheless an impressive first outing.

[Celia]

Gail, I share your feelings about this book 100%. I, too, have learned much about Gambia including geography and cuisine. I like reading the world books because I do research outside the book and learn that way too. 😎

[Celia]

I finished this today.

As the stories progressed about Ayodele, they got better. The first, Reuben, confused me. Why call it Reuben if her sister ended up marrying him. The second, Leon, was sad, but relevant. The third, where Ayodele is the second wife, gave me pause to think. She appreciated having the occasional privacy and she got along with first wife well.