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The Old Drift

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2019 novel by Namwali Serpell
The Old Drift
First edition
AuthorNamwali Serpell
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical fiction, Science fiction
Set inRhodesia, Zambia 1903 - 2023
PublisherHogarth Press
Publication dateMarch 21, 2019
Publication placeZambia
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book
Awards2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award

2020 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award

ISBN9781101907146

The Old Drift is a 2019 historical fiction and science fiction novel by Zambian author Namwali Serpell. Set in Rhodesia/Zambia, it is Serpell's debut novel and follows the lives of three interwoven families in three generations. It won the 2020 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award as well as the Arthur C. Clarke Award.

Plot

The novel is a saga that follows three families living in Zambia across three generations. These families are intertwined by the actions of the novel's first narrator, Percy M. Clark, who is based on a real man from Cambridge, England, who moved to Zambia (then Rhodesia) in the early 20th century as one of Europe's many colonists across the African continent. In the novel's first chapter, Percy details some of his encounters as an early settler in The Old Drift, a settlement near Victoria Falls. He details the settlement's changing name, its growing population, and his racist views of the native Zambians. On one such occasion, Percy's actions at a bar one night cause a young girl to strike a young Zambian boy so hard that "he became an imbecile, forever smiling at the daisies," as Percy says. This Zambian boy reappears when Percy accidentally shoots him one day, and later learns that his name is N'gulube. This series of events is the cause behind the intertwining of the families, which is slowly revealed through the rest of the novel as Serpell details the lives of the family members on the family tree: the Grandmothers (Sibilla, Agnes, and Matha), the Mothers (Sylvia, Isabella, and Thandiwe), and their Children (Joseph, Jacob, and Naila).

Reception

The book received positive reviews from critics. Reviewing it in The Guardian, Nadifa Mohamed wrote: "Namwali Serpell’s first novel is a rambunctious epic that traces the intertwined histories of three families over three generations. …Serpell is an ambitious and talented writer, with the chutzpah to work on a huge canvas." The Observer's review concluded, "By the end, set in a near future involving a new digital device embedded in the user’s skin, we realise how slyly Serpell is testing our assumptions, before a cunning last-minute swerve forces us to question why we don’t consider science fiction a viable mode for the great African novel."

In The Old Drift, Serpell experiments with different forms of narrative in order to help readers view the story from different viewpoints. NPR's Annalisa Quinn called Serpell's narrative style "florid, but the excess often comes with a point. These are indeed three ways humans think about space: As something legible and predictive, as a resource to exploit, and as a source of beauty and awe. You also get the sense that the descriptive excess is a conscious choice".

Writing for The New York Times, Dwight Garner praised the debut, saying "The reader who picks up The Old Drift is likely to be more than simply impressed. This is a dazzling book, as ambitious as any first novel published this decade. It made the skin on the back of my neck prickle."

Awards

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize — Longlisted
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award Won
Ray Bradbury Prize Shortlisted
2020 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award — Won
Arthur C. Clarke Award — Won
Grand Prix of Literary Associations: Belles-Lettres — Won
Windham–Campbell Literature Prize Fiction Won

References

  1. "The Old Drift". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  2. ^ Garner, Dwight (2019-03-25). "'The Old Drift' Is a Dazzling Debut Spanning Four Generations". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  3. "Percy Missen Clark – Rhodesian Study Circle". Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  4. "Book Marks reviews of The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell". Book Marks. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  5. Mohamed, Nadifa (14 March 2019), "The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell review – genre-blending Zambian debut", The Guardian.
  6. Cummins, Anthony (10 March 2019), "The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell – review: Sci-fi meets forbidden love in a debut novel spanning centuries and continents", The Observer.
  7. "'The Old Drift' Takes The Long View Of Human (And Mosquito) History". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  8. Murua, James (2019-07-25). "Namwali Serpell, Tope Folarin on US's Center for Fiction First Novel Prize 2019 longlist". Writing Africa. Retrieved 2024-05-11.
  9. "Los Angeles Times Book Prizes 2019 | Bookreporter.com". www.bookreporter.com. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  10. "Los Angeles Times Book Prizes 2019 | Bookreporter.com". www.bookreporter.com. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  11. "Awards: Anisfield-Wolf Winners". Shelf Awareness. March 31, 2020. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  12. Murua, James (2020-03-30). "Namwali Serpell is Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards 2020 winner". Writing Africa. Retrieved 2024-05-11.
  13. Murua, James (24 September 2020). "Namwali Serpell's 'The Old Drift' wins Arthur C. Clarke Award 2020". Writing Africa. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  14. Read on this link
  15. "Awards: Rathbones Folio, Windham Campbell Winners". Shelf Awareness. March 24, 2020. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  16. Murua, James (2020-03-19). "Namwali Serpell is Windham-Campbell Prize 2020 recipient". Writing Africa. Retrieved 2024-05-11.
  17. Nawotka, Ed (2020-03-19). "Eight Writers Awarded $165,000 Windham-Campbell Prizes". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
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