sonsuzdesign

The Price family - a Baptist minister, his wife, and four daughters - travel deep into the Belgian Congo in the late 1950s for an expected year-long missionary assignment. What begins as an optimistic effort at "Christianizing the savages" turns into a fascinating exploration of motives, personalities, and religious interpretation, set against the backdrop of the country's political revolution and fight for freedom from Belgium. The father's unyielding self-righteousness is a bit stereotyped, but helps expose some of the cultural conflicts. The wife and daughters each narrate the book in successive chapters, and we learn much about each of their unique personalities in the process - the characters are very well developed and their different personalities present different insights and dilemmas. I liked the first 2/3 of the book best; later, as the family fell apart and each member reacted in very different ways to the African experience, there was less to appreciate for me.

2022-10-29 03:40