My friend Maura gave me a signed copy of New York Times reporter Helene Cooper's memoir, The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood. Lucky me.
It's an amazing book. Cooper grew up in Liberia as part of the elite class descended from American slaves who returned to Africa in the 1800s. She skillfully weaves memoir material of her own unique coming-of-age within an economically stratified society with riveting historical information about the founding and development of Liberia--much of it done by her own ancestors. It's more than fascinating. It had me reading out loud to whoever would listen. (Sorry Dad.)
As you know or might imagine, Liberia finally unraveled due to all of the incredibly unjust class and race dynamics playing out there for far too long, and violence, instability, and chaos ensued. I don't want to give away the book, so I'll leave it at that, but be assured, Cooper has a long journey to go once the Liberian part of her life explodes.
The book is beautifully held together by Cooper's friendship with Eunice, a girl from a lower class who was brought in to be her companion as a child, was her rock throughout her adolescence, and ends up being the tug on her conscience as an adult.
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I kept almost buying this when it was being sold in Starbucks.
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