HOW BEAUTIFUL WE WERE by Imbolo Mbue

An American oil company called Pexton has polluted the soil, air, and water of the fictional village of Kosawa.  Several Kosawa men, including Thula’s father, travel to the capital to complain, but they never return.  When Pexton’s spokesmen are in the village to deliver their usual platitudes about fixing the problems, one of the villagers steals their car key and takes their driver hostage, along with the spokesmen, in an obvious tit-for-tat.  This thrilling beginning seemed so promising, but the fight between Kosawa and Pexton drags on for decades, with no resolution in sight, so that the pace becomes tedious.  Thula, a young girl whose intelligence lands her a scholarship to study in the U.S., is the main character who recognizes that the problem with Pexton is really a problem with her country’s government, particularly its dictator, who is obviously profiting from Pexton’s presence.  A sense of hopelessness pervades this novel, as each American lawsuit has a miniscule chance of succeeding, according to the lawyer representing Kosawa.  Apart from Kosawa’s plight, several aspects of this novel stood out to me.  One is the pigeon-holing of women in Kosawa as mothers and wives with no real agency of their own; remarrying after a husband dies is frowned upon.  Even as Thula is organizing a resistance movement in her homeland, her lack of a husband sows distrust in the minds of those she is trying to lead.  The other aspect that struck me is Thula’s observation that her country has no Constitution to serve as a foundation on which the country is built.  Ultimately, though, the Constitution is just a piece of paper that holds our own fragile democracy together until those in power decide not to abide by its laws.  Kosawa is a good example of what happens when corporate greed seeps into the government, leaving the people with little recourse.