Duplicate copy reserved for my Africa-themed bookbox.

Azaro is a spirit that didn't seem to leave the other side, which leaves him more connected than others to the other world. Azaro's mother loves him dearly, but both mother and son struggle with their his father's idealism, which often leaves them without food or money.

I am a big fan of magical realism, and kept seeing this on lists of books in the genre. The Famished Road has a much darker side to it, much darker than, say, Garcia Marquez. Azaro's link to the spirit world does not lead him to understand life better, rather he sees how grotesque it is. There was also not much in terms of light relief, Azaro's life, and that of those around him, doesn't have much happiness, and so I really could only read it chunks.

I've had this for ages, but something kept making me put it back. I'm glad I have now read it, but I still think I missed a lot of the internal references. I imagine I would get a lot more out of it on a second reading.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

In the bookbox.

I took this book from the African theme bookbox. Thank you!

It was a decent read without being anything great.

Wild release time!