Helon Habila

A startlingly imaginative exploration of the African diaspora in Europe, by one of our most acclaimed international writers.

A Novel

Travelers

Shona Tiger

Reminds me lots of Donal Ryan's From a Low and Quiet Sea. Just as devastating. Also thinking this is what Johnny Pitts's Afropean could have been: feeling the compassion in this, and that reminds me of the disconnect in the other. Liked the middle best. 

Watched Helon Habila at AfroLit Fest, and he struck me as very cerebral. Comes through in the book too, I think - very literary in many places.

Bryan Alexander

Travelers concerns refugees and migrants moving in and out of Europe, Africa, north America, and the Middle East. 

Formally, it's a string of short stories linked by the misadventures of an unnamed narrator. We begin with he and his wife, Gina, settling into Berlin as she pursues an art fellowship, painting portraits of migrants and refugees titled... "Travelers." The couple's relationship falls apart and the narrator travels, collecting stories of other people moving across national boundaries.

It's a very political novel, urging the world to take better care of migrants. It doesn't have to come out and say so; the sheer presentation of abuse and suffering is clear.

That presentation is also ultimately very, very depressing. I read this with my very empathetic son and we both were surprised at reviews claiming the book to be inspiring. There is little in the way of relief or redress.

It's written with an understated clarity, stating facts without lyrically celebrating or condemning them. Yet this affords passionate intensity.

Recommended.

Travelers A Novel

Reviews