How Beautiful We Were

A Novel

By: Imbolo Mbue

Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi, Janina Edwards, Dion Graham, JD Jackson, Allyson Johnson, Lisa Renee Pitts

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

“Mbue reaches for the moon and, by the novel’s end, has it firmly held in her hand.”—NPR

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.

Beautiful story, beautiful narration

Loved hearing the beautiful voices read this moving story. So wonderful to have different people read different parts. Loved it.

4.5 stars

4.5 stars. Might have been 5 if it didn't constantly rip my heart out. Mbue did a good job of alternating narrators and informing timeline through them. That's not always pulled off well. I would definitely recommend this book.

Commitment to truth

The story of power and greed at the expense of the powerless was well told.

Great story, very moving!

The story made me think about the life I take for granted. The performance was excellent and the full cast made it feel like I was hearing the story of a village. A Story that is repeated over and over, in the news just today a wind energy farm disruption the Sami people.

Narration, use of metaphors

Beautifully written and moving story. The writer knew how to evoke emotion and the narrators did a wonderful job with helping to bring it to life