There’s no better way to get to know a country without travelling there than through its books. And Sierra Leone is no exception – there are dozens of excellent titles by Sierra Leonean writers, from novels to memoirs and essays.Whether you want to know more about history, culture or simply daydream about the beaches and nature, these 5 amazing books about Sierra Leone will allow you to travel there from the comfort of your favorite armchair!
1. The Memory of Love - Aminatta Forna
This novel by Scottish-Sierra Leonean writer Aminatta Forna is set at the end of the Civil War, and it weaves together the stories of three men – a history professor, a doctor and a surgeon, all trying to come to terms with their own personal and collective experiences. Another excellent book by the same author is The Devil that Danced on the Water, a memoir about Aminatta’s childhood and the relationship with her father.
2. A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah
It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of child soldiers were forced to fight during the Civil War. The author of this book was one of them, and in this book he narrates his experiences – how he was kidnapped to become a child soldier, how he was forced to use drugs and guns and his rescue. He was then adopted by his uncle and went on to live to the United States, and is now a UNICEF ambassador.
3. The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar - Syl Cheney-Coker
This novel blends magic and realism by telling the story of a country that sounds very much like Sierra Leone, from the arrival of the first formerly enslaved Africans from the Americas to the present day.
4. Breaking the Maafa Chain - Anni Domingo
This is the story of two sisters, captured in their West African homeland and separated by the Middle Passage – one goes to England and becomes the god daughter of Queen Victoria, and the other goes to live a life of enslavement in an American labour camp.
5. The Gilded Ones - Namina Forna
This novel blends fantasy and reality, folklore and dreams, and it is inspired by stories of powerful women such as the Dahomey Amazons, the only all-female army in modern history. It is set in a fictional world where a woman’s value depends on her purity, and when a girl is deemed to be impure she learns to have superpowers that allow her to communicate with supernatural creatures.
