Guest Review - Behold The Dreamers

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I'm not sure how it happened, but I am somehow lucky enough to have yet another friend write a guest review for me!  One of my very best friends, Katie Makoski, wrote this piece on a book she recently stumbled upon by chance.  She is a very talented writer and possesses a very well-rounded reading palette.  Enjoy!


Behold the Dreamers
Imbolo Mbue
release date 8/23/2016
382 pages
Chapter length: short
5 out of 5 stars





I bought this book at a second-hand sale hosted at a local university. I love buying books at this sale each year, because they're usually eye-opening novels and nonfiction works assigned by professors, so I figure that's a good enough endorsement for me. Plus, this novel had the added bonus of flaunting an Oprah's Book Club seal!

Behold the Dreamers primarily follows the character Jende Jonga, who is an immigrant from Cameroon trying to establish a life for himself and his family in New York City. As the reader gets to know Jende and his journey, the author additionally weaves in the narratives of Jende's wife, Neni, who has acquired a student visa to go to pharmacy school; Mr. Edwards, a Wall Street big shot employing Jende as his family's chauffeur; and Mrs. Edwards, a real housewife of New York trying to keep her family together. 

While Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are familiar characters to most of us who have read books or watched shows or movies about New York, Jende and Neni felt new and complex to me. Especially in today's political climate, it seemed important to read a story that offered an in-depth look into the fear, uncertainty, romanticism, and hope on which the life of an immigrant seeking asylum is built. It was heartbreaking to read about how the legal and economic pressures weighing on a poor immigrant like Jende changed his character, his values, and his family. 

I appreciated that the author put solid research into the development of the book, which is set in 2007, in order to accurately capture the social and economic climate of New York at that time. Mbue is also precise in creating characters that, like real people, each have their moments of virtuousness and selfishness. She finds something to value in the most seemingly villainous characters, as well as traits to critique in the story's protagonists. The syntax of the writing feels awkward at times, which I think may be because the author herself is a Cameroonian immigrant, like her characters. For me, this brought an additional layer of authenticity to the book. 

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to get some reading in at the beach this summer!



If you'd like to read this book, please consider using my link to purchase it from Amazon and help support Blonde Bibliotaph.

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