How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

A small African village finds itself on the edge of collapse when agents from a large American oil company arrive with a paycheck and a promise of better times. The village is split on if it wants to give in to the oil company and soon something happens that will forever change things. In this beautiful, lyrical novel Imbolo Mbue shows us the gentle way and quiet beauty of the village and their ways they preserve their heritage and sets it against the noise and violence of modern day mega companies and large cities. The younger generation who have witnesses so much violence and death from contamination and the power hungry oil thugs take it upon themselves to strike back and demand justice. As violent and tragic as this story is there is such beauty and grace in the language - a calm voice amidst all the pain and suffering. I would think this would be a remarkable audiobook.  4 1/2 stars