First Blood set in the Congo – Amelie Nothomb
First Blood set in the Congo – Amelie Nothomb
A short novel in honour of her father who died during the pandemic. He was a young consul in 1964 and heads out to Stanleyville (Kisangani today). Quite a premise so I was keen to read this and find out more.
BookTrail the locations in First Blood
Boarding Pass Information : First Blood
Destination : The Republic of the Congo
Author guide: Amelie Northomb
Genre: inspired by real life
Food and drink to accompany: nothing, it’s too nerve wracking
#Bookreview
@thebooktrailer
A novel to transport you to the Republic of the Congo
BookTrail the locations in First Blood
The location of the Congo intrigued me as did the fact that this was about the author’s father who worked out there. He was a consul in 1963 and was responsible for negotiation with rebels who kidnapped more than 1600 people in the country. He was one of those people so his actions and experiences spoke loud and clear.
What a story! This is a short and quick read and I felt there could have been so much more said and explored. It’s as if this is the pre-novel before the main event. No matter, this snippet of a read is powerful and compelling. Imagine writing about someone – your father no less – who did such a remarkable thing! Saving lives in a very hostile country.
I have to mention the start of the book. I mean, as soon as I started reading I realised I was standing in front of a firing squad. Now that is one way to open a book. Needless to say it grabbed my attention.
From this moment, he takes us back to his life and that compels us to leave him in front of this immediate danger. He takes us back and drops us in his life which, we soon find out, is difficult to say the least.
Reading this was like seeing a fight or danger scene, then it freezing, and the reader gets to look at every character in every angle with this father at the core of it all. The culture, the history, the emotional resonance of this short novel got to me. It was quite poetic in many ways.
BookTrail the locations in First Blood
Postcard details: Access The BookTrail’s Map of Locations and travel guide here
More books set in The Congo
BookTrail Boarding Pass: First Blood
The author is not on social media
