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For general questions about reservations or event details, please contact the DC Public Library location you are planning to visit. For those in need of disability services related to event registration or room reservation, please reach out to the Center for Accessibility at 202-727-2142 or DCPLaccess@dc.gov. |
This adult book club discusses books on human ecology, sustainable living, environmental justice and post-fossil fuel futures. Books can be nonfiction, fiction or poetry.
This month we will be discussing the novel How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue.
A fearless young woman from a small African village starts a revolution against an American oil company in this sweeping, inspiring novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers.
ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, People • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, The Christian Science Monitor, Marie Claire, Ms. Magazine, BookPage, Kirkus Reviews
"We should have known the end was near. So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful second novel, How Beautiful We Were. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price.
Told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold on to its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom."
Email rachel.white@dc.gov:
Registration is optional but encouraged.
If you would like to request an accommodation, please contact dcplaccess@dc.gov at least one week prior to the program.
AGE GROUP: | Seniors | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Educational Program | Civic Engagement | Book Club |
