Alderwood Wives Book Club Review: A Long Way Gone

This review is tough. Some of us really liked our December book,  A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, and some of us weren't too keen on it. A few ladies found it "hard to get into".  However, those of us who read it in 2-3 days (including myself...up until 30 mins before book club :p) were able to really sink into this memoir.

It's a little different reading a Biography. What got me was the author's age. He was born in the same year I was. Everything that happened to him, all of the tragedy and horror of the 90's in Sierra Leone, happened during my life time. While Ishmael was dodging bullets I was having recess with my friends. While Ishmael slept outside exposed to the elements I was playing with barbies in my own bedroom. While Ishmael was eating unripe bananas and oranges I was eating KFC and Doritos at the wavepool with my cousins. You get the point.

I'm not going to lie, the content disturbed me at times and I wanted to pretent it was fiction. But nope, it's a real story and I personally found it very powerful.

Ishmael, your life definitely has a purpose. Thank you for sharing your story with me! Tonight I will pray for everyone struggling in Civil Wars in Africa and around the world.

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As always, if you'd like to follow along with our book club, here are our next three picks:

• January: The Book Of Negroes, by Lawrence Hill
• February: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
• March: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel, by Lisa See