This month, Cameroon-born, NYC resident Imbolo Mbue releases her much anticipated debut novel, Behold The Dreamers. It explores the cost of the American Dream for a young migrant family from Cameroon and their financially priveleged employers. Here, she shares the books that shaped her life.
“Wow,” says Cameroonian immigrant Jende Jonga, mesmerized by a New York sunset, “I know the sun comes up and goes down, but I never knew that it does it so nicely.” That’s how I feel about Behold the Dreamers, the novel of which Jende is the star: I’ve heard this immigrant story before, but I never knew it could be told so nicely.
[Audio] "For me, personally, the financial crisis laid bare a lot about the way in which the American dream is not that accessible to everybody ..." Mbue says. The novel gave her a way to explore and express how the financial crisis affected her perspective on America.
Imbolo Mbue vient de publier chez Belfond, Voici venir les rêveurs, un très beau roman sur le rêve américain vu par les Africains. Cet ouvrage nous relate avec finesse et sensibilité tous les sentiments qui animent ces immigrants qui se prennent à rêver et à espérer une vie meilleure dans ce mythique eldorado.
Dans un langage dont la simplicité est une caresse pour l’esprit, Imbolo Mbue réussit avec maestria le pari de raconter une histoire tout en faisant oublier au lecteur qu’il tient un livre dans ses mains. La romancière a su trouver les mots justes pour ce récit, sans prétention ni superflu et avec beaucoup d’humour, rendant ainsi ses personnages authentiques, vrais et attachants. On a l’impression de les connaître personnellement.
Le Pidgin, le français et le Bakwéri, langue maternelle de Jende et Neni, font partie des ingrédients de ce roman rafraîchissant. On se laisse facilement emporter par les aventures des membres de ces deux familles à New York, ponctuées par des flashbacks qui font voyager pour Limbé au Cameroun.
AUDIO ; Dans son premier roman, « Voici venir les rêveurs », la romancière d’origine camerounaise Imbolo M’Bué suit le parcours d’un couple africain qui essaie de commencer une nouvelle vie dans un nouveau pays.
“Why does everyone make it sound as if being in America is everything?” one character asks. The closest thing to an answer lies in a long passage in which Neni muses on what her children will gain and lose, should they be forced to leave. It is the impulse any parent has to make their children’s lives as good and full of possibility as they can. The real question is whether America can still fulfill that promise.
Imbolo Mbue on Becoming a WriterCameroonian author Imbolo Mbue speaks about her journey as a writer and about her eagerly anticipated debut novel "Behold the Dreamers" (Random House, August 23, 2016), a facinating story "about the power of dreams, about how the pursuit of our dreams transforms us, and about the sacrifices we are compelled to make to see our dreams come true."
Posted by Imbolo Mbue on Monday, June 6, 2016