As we continue the countdown of best reads of 2019, we come to Out of Darkness, Shining Light by the Zimbabwean author Petina Gappah. It’s a vivid imagining of the company that escorted the body of Dr. David Livingstone, the famed explorer and missionary, back to the coast following his death in central Africa. Gappah’s novel is an adventure tale told from the perspective of a diverse group of Africans facing the challenges of the developing colonial world. Her two principal narrators–Halima, the vibrant cook, and Jacob Wainwright, a Christian convert educated in a British school in India–are vivid characters who give wildly different accounts of the journey.  A great, human story with lingering echoes for the post-colonial world.

You can find our review by clicking on the title.