Welcome to Kosawa. A village nestled in a lush valley somewhere in West Africa, Kosawa suffers from the singular ill fortune of sitting atop an oil field. For as long as the village elders can remember, ever since independence, an American oil company named Pexton has been tapping the oil. And although the villagers felt no effects for several years, toxic waste began despoiling the river and polluting their land once Pexton opened a new well. Now, years later, pipeline leaks and continuing runoff from the wells poison their lives. Crops are shriveling and children are dying although Pexton has sent “experts” who insist there’s nothing wrong with the water. It is long past time for someone to do something. But it’s a madman who will lead the way. This is the set-up in Imbolo Mbue’s eloquent lament about environmental devastation and latter-day colonialism, How Beautiful We Were.
A revolt begins in Kosawa
Pexton has been sending a team of officials to Kosawa every few months to assure the villagers that help is on the way. But help never comes. The men explain there is little they can do because His Excellency, the President, holds all the power. So, one day, the village madman, Kanga, arouses the villagers to kidnap the Pexton team and hold them captive until something is done to address their problems. Though they’re reluctant at first, he shames the young men to seize the three Pexton men and their driver. They’re fearful that soldiers will come to the village and kill them all. But Kanga prevails. And thus begins Kosawa’s fateful revolt against the forces poisoning their lives.
How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue (2021) 384 pages ★★★★★
The revolt becomes a revolution
We follow events in Kosawa through the 1980s well into the 2000s. Young men become old, small children grow to adulthood and have children. And the grandchildren of the elders of the 80s grow increasingly impatient as they see their age-mates continue to die from the poison Pexton unleashes. Eventually, a young woman named Thula Nangi, educated in the United States and steeped in the literature of revolution, becomes their leader. But her vision is larger than theirs. And when she returns home she travels the country with five of the young men, preaching revolution to little avail. Yet the young men have minds of their own—and their impatience will lead them on a different path to change. With guns.
The impact of the “resource curse”
From Mauritania in the north to Angola in the south, West Africa has proven to be an abundant source of the world’s petroleum. Oil production in the region, almost all of it offshore, accounted for about eight percent of global oil exports in 2023. But little of the wealth generated has gone to address the often urgent needs of the people who live there. Sub-Sarahan Africa suffers from the “resource curse” (or the “paradox of plenty”).
Typically, these countries exhibit lower economic growth, undemocratic government, and slower or nonexistent economic development than countries with less oil and fewer minerals to mine. In most of the oil-and-mineral rich countries of the continent, the ecological damage is extensive, the health of people living nearby is often impaired—and much of the limited amount of money the oil and mining companies share with local governments goes into the bank accounts of the people in power. A curse, indeed. And this moving novel brings that reality into sharp focus.
About the author
Imbolo Mbue was born in an English-speaking region of Cameroon in 1981. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers and an MA from Columbia, she worked for a marketing firm the United States, becoming an American citizen in 2014. She currently lives in New York City.
Mbue is the author of two novels, both of which have met critical acclaim. How Beautiful We Were is the second.
For related reading
This novel is one of the 30 top books about Africa and of The best mysteries set in Africa.
You might also care to check out:
- 25 most enlightening historical novels
- Top 10 historical mysteries and thrillers
- Top 10 great popular novels
And you can always find my most popular reviews, and the most recent ones, on the Home Page.
