Review of Leaving Dahomey
Posted: 18 Sep 2021, 06:49
[Following is a volunteer review of "Leaving Dahomey" by Jude Shaw.]
Traditions become a great part of our life even if they are taken for granted, and sometimes those traditions can become a turning point in our life. Different kinds of traditional practices can have an unseen impact on the tribesmen, especially if they are young and are seeking guidance of their ancestors. Leaving Dahomey by Jude Shaw is a fictional story about Adeoha, the main protagonist of the book.
Adeoha was born in a decent family. Her father, who was known as Lord Tubutu, was one of the best friends of the king. He helped the king to establish his kingdom by providing financial support to him. And he received special treatment and favors from the king. His children practiced the culture of their mother's tribe as Tubutu couldn't reveal his ancestral background to anyone, not even his family members, because of the stiff political competition. When Adeoha's first friend, Sewextu, invited her to the initiation ceremony of the tribe of The language of the Drum, she was shocked to be accepted by them. This was the turning point in Adeoha's life. She didn't know what will happen next. Will it be good for her family? Will this be good for the friendship between his father and the king?
The story is set in Dahomey, an ancient African kingdom which is located somewhere between Ghana and Nigeria. The events taking place in this book are from the 1850s and being so old this book consists of the phrases that we don't use anymore. The book had approximately 300 pages in the format I received and is divided into 10 chapters. Every chapter is the continuation of the previous one and the story is mostly explained from a third person's perspective, and when it is shown in the first person it is through Adeoha as she is the main protagonist.
It was a great read. The author mentions a lot of different kinds of cultural diversities in the storyline. The themes of this book are carefully chosen and very well portrayed. For instance, the author showed the importance of having a loyal friend by choosing the theme of friendship. It was through Sewextu, her first friend, that she got into The language of drum. This shows how great a simple friendship can be. And the author educates everyone about the cultural practices of someone by using the theme of tradition. I also liked that the author used simple vocabulary for a vast majority of people to understand this book and enjoy its story. As I didn't find many grammatical mistakes in it, this book was carefully edited.
Although the book is professionally edited, it still had some flaws in it. As mentioned earlier, the book is set in the 1850s in Africa. However, some vocabulary that the author used didn't exist in Africa before the colonization. For instance, at a point the date is mentioned by the usage of the word 'December', however, December was not used till the early times of colonization. And some mistakes like this one can be seen a couple more times. And the way the story switched from third person to first person was really confusing sometimes and made it hard to follow the story properly.
I would give this book 3 out of 4 stars because of the inconveniences I mentioned earlier. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction novels and is interested in knowing about ancient Africa. Likewise, I don't think there's anyone in particular who will not enjoy this book.
******
Leaving Dahomey
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Traditions become a great part of our life even if they are taken for granted, and sometimes those traditions can become a turning point in our life. Different kinds of traditional practices can have an unseen impact on the tribesmen, especially if they are young and are seeking guidance of their ancestors. Leaving Dahomey by Jude Shaw is a fictional story about Adeoha, the main protagonist of the book.
Adeoha was born in a decent family. Her father, who was known as Lord Tubutu, was one of the best friends of the king. He helped the king to establish his kingdom by providing financial support to him. And he received special treatment and favors from the king. His children practiced the culture of their mother's tribe as Tubutu couldn't reveal his ancestral background to anyone, not even his family members, because of the stiff political competition. When Adeoha's first friend, Sewextu, invited her to the initiation ceremony of the tribe of The language of the Drum, she was shocked to be accepted by them. This was the turning point in Adeoha's life. She didn't know what will happen next. Will it be good for her family? Will this be good for the friendship between his father and the king?
The story is set in Dahomey, an ancient African kingdom which is located somewhere between Ghana and Nigeria. The events taking place in this book are from the 1850s and being so old this book consists of the phrases that we don't use anymore. The book had approximately 300 pages in the format I received and is divided into 10 chapters. Every chapter is the continuation of the previous one and the story is mostly explained from a third person's perspective, and when it is shown in the first person it is through Adeoha as she is the main protagonist.
It was a great read. The author mentions a lot of different kinds of cultural diversities in the storyline. The themes of this book are carefully chosen and very well portrayed. For instance, the author showed the importance of having a loyal friend by choosing the theme of friendship. It was through Sewextu, her first friend, that she got into The language of drum. This shows how great a simple friendship can be. And the author educates everyone about the cultural practices of someone by using the theme of tradition. I also liked that the author used simple vocabulary for a vast majority of people to understand this book and enjoy its story. As I didn't find many grammatical mistakes in it, this book was carefully edited.
Although the book is professionally edited, it still had some flaws in it. As mentioned earlier, the book is set in the 1850s in Africa. However, some vocabulary that the author used didn't exist in Africa before the colonization. For instance, at a point the date is mentioned by the usage of the word 'December', however, December was not used till the early times of colonization. And some mistakes like this one can be seen a couple more times. And the way the story switched from third person to first person was really confusing sometimes and made it hard to follow the story properly.
I would give this book 3 out of 4 stars because of the inconveniences I mentioned earlier. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction novels and is interested in knowing about ancient Africa. Likewise, I don't think there's anyone in particular who will not enjoy this book.
******
Leaving Dahomey
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon