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The Hinterlands is a historical account of Africa’s Niger Delta and the civilizations that were later suppressed under British colonization, coupled with a story of two kindred souls that come together in a nearly uninhabitable place.
Brendan Donivan is a trader along the Ethiope River. He holds special recognition with the monarchy of Benin City, a place deep in the jungle that does not tolerate many white men. He has adapted to their ways, adopted their religions and is politically keen enough to keep himself alive.
Elle Bowie is a journalist from New York who arrives in Africa after dreaming of the Oba’s palace in the jungle and the rugged trader who has become a part of the African environment. Is it karma that brings Brendan and Elle together, each having dreamt of the other?
The hero is presented as a semi-illiterate man who strives to be poet in his spare time. He is an Irishman from the American Deep South. These contrasts and his inconsistent patterns of speech (Irish, southern drawl or African dialect) were a little confusing. While he is presented as a shrewd businessman, I don’t believe there is any point in the story where Brendan appears without being sexually aroused. The heroine, Elle Bowie, goes to Africa posing as an anthropologist instead of presenting herself as a journalist. Her stated mission is to study clitoridectomy.
With people challenged by literacy, I had a hard time accepting their
easy grasp of such a clinical term. I was disappointed not to have read
more about the procedure, perhaps witnessing a ceremony; instead the
author presented two women comparing their differences and a male point
of view to the results of the procedure.
Elle’s true purpose for traveling to Africa remains somewhat in the
background. There is a lot of research and interesting information that
goes into this story, unfortunately much of it is only offered in
passing without much in the way of explanation. I wanted to know more
about the mysterious Benin City (the secluded African village) and feel
the reverence that the privileged white men experienced in being
permitted to visit. In the final chapters, there is an editorial blip
where Elle receives the same letter twice with two different outcomes,
which leaves the relationship between Brendan and Elle unresolved. Elle
is very nearly a strong, female Indiana Jones type character, but she
came across as self-absorbed and shallow. We never see Indiana Jones
walking away from the love of his life on to his next adventure – even
if he, too, might be shallow and selfish - we just fade to black.
Reviewed by Karla Brandenburg
for The Road to Romance
March 1, 2005
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