Africa

Somali Novel: A review of Black Mamba Boy

August 16, 2010   ·   177373 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2Fsomali-novel-a-review-of-black-mamba-boy-17737Somali+Novel%3A+A+review+of+Black+Mamba+Boy2010-08-16+19%3A14%3A19Mohamed+H.+Gulaidhttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2F%3Fp%3D17737

Black Mamba Boy
by Nadifa Mohamed
Harper Collins; 288 pp; $18.00

(Somalilandpress) — Nadifa Mohamed’s debut novel ‘Black Mamba Boy’ brings to life the embellished accounts of her father’s agonizing childhood. Jama, Nadifa’s father, is a young Somali child living in Aden, Yemen. Although he was a street child, Jama had his mother for all the emotional support one could need. At the age of ten Jama loses his mother, and is left in the care of Somali relatives. Here he starts his remarkable journey to find his father but ends up with discovering more than lineage; his own strengths.

While this Novel is one of heartbreak, the hopelessness of a young child without a soul to care for and the dangers of poverty it is also a novel that defines the underlining subject of belonging to a land. No matter the direction Jama heads, he is confronted with someone’s almost deafening aching to be in their own country, controlled by their own people. What is most surprising about this novel is that Mohamed finds a way for generations of Somali immigrants to relate to her father’s story. Coming from a twenty-something year old war zone, oppression and constantly searching for a home, it’s safe to say that most Somali’s have heard similar stories from their own parents and grandparents. These traces of longing to go home can be found in the poetry of the Somali diaspora in the works of Warsan Shire. One can also find comparable emotion in the music of K’naan.

While suffering is a major theme in the novel, Jama’s elusive luck is one that turns every moment around and infers that hope is a much bigger theme. The narrative is so realistic, and daunting on the reader that it’s quite difficult to come to terms with the book’s ending. Jama’s search for his father seems never-ending until he almost catches up with him, only to find that he had just been killed. Through his travels, Jama meets an immense group of people – good and bad. The descriptions of the scattered Somalis that would provide shelter and nourishment for young Jama gave the story one of it’s most uplifting paragraphs. Jama finds work among merchant ships, doing anything and everything he needs to survive.

Mohamed’s story enlightens any person who is not familiar with the Somali diaspora. Our stories are all different, but tied together so very well in the story of the author’s father. This novel reminds me so much of my grandmother’s very own suffering in Aden, her travels through Saudi Arabia as seller of all things and of my mother’s own hardship to become a nurse in America. Jama, a lot like every Somali man and woman, gave up his life to live. He was in a field of trouble, and only saw that the field could be fermented, and nothing more.

Black Mamba Boy is an inspiring tale of common heroic triumph, and certainly a narrative that will not easily leave your hearts.

Review by Shamsa J Abdi,                                                                                                              Aspiring writer, currently studying Literature at Michigan State University.

 Email this story

By Mohamed H. Gulaid

Tags: somali novel Nadifa mohamed black mamba boy