THE OLD DRIFT by Namwali Serpell

This sprawling, multi-generational novel takes place in Zambia, beginning with its colonial beginning as Northern Rhodesia.  The family tree shown at the beginning of the novel is invaluable, as keeping up with who’s who is a formidable undertaking.  The three prominent matriarchs are Sibilla, Matha, and Agnes.  A healthy dose of magical realism accompanies the weird afflictions of Matha and Sibilla.  Sibilla has fast-growing hair over most of her body.  (I couldn’t erase the mental image of Cousin Itt from my mind.)  And Matha cries nonstop.  (Wouldn’t she have a dehydration issue?)  Agnes’s affliction is more mainstream in that she goes blind just as her tennis career in the UK is about to take off.  She lands in Zambia after falling in love with a man before discovering that he is black.  The timeline of the novel extends into the AIDS crisis and beyond—into a future in which the government implants a “bead” in the palm of everyone’s hand so that it functions similarly to a smartphone.  This invention may not be that farfetched, but the whimsical nature of many of the plot points seems to conflict with the seriousness of other events.  The focus on the horrific AIDS epidemic eerily foreshadows the Covid pandemic, especially since AIDS is referred to in the novel as simply “The Virus.”  There is a lot to unpack in this novel, as evidenced by its length, and that coupled with the convoluted relationships of the characters make this book more of a challenge than I had bargained for.