The Camel Bookmobile

The Camel Bookmobile

by Masha Hamilton (Author)

Synopsis

Once a fortnight, the nomadic settlement of Madidima, set deep in the dusty Kenyan desert, awaits the arrival of three camels laden down with panniers of books. This is the Camel Bookmobile, a scheme set up to bring books to scattered tribes whose daily life is dominated by drought, famine and disease. Into their world comes an unexpected wealth of literature - from the adventures of Tom Sawyer to strange vegetarian cookbooks and Dr Seuss. Kanika, a young girl who lives with her grandmother, devours every book she can lay her hands on. Her best friend is Scar Boy, a child who was mauled at the age of three by a hyena. They are joined by Matani the village teacher, his alluring wife Jwahir and the drummaker Abayomi, as well as Mr Abasi, the camel driver, who is convinced that one of the camels is possessed by the spirit of his dead mother-in-law. The only condition of The Camel Bookmobile is that every book must be returned or else the visits will cease. Then one day a book is stolen...

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 312
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Publisher: W&N
Published: 13 Jun 2007

ISBN 10: 0297851810
ISBN 13: 9780297851813
Book Overview: Highly commercial -- perfect for readers of Alexander McCall Smith as well as more titles such as The Kiterunner. Inspired by the real Kenyan Camel Mobile Library. 'In this vivid, absorbing novel Masha Hamilton transports her readers, even more surely than the camels do books, to the village of Mididima and the struggle between traditional values and western education. Richly peopled, full of conflicts and surprises, The Camel Bookmobile made me think and feel in all the best ways' Margot Livesey 'A lush celebration of the productive - and destructive - power of the written word. With a heartfelt appreciation for the potential of literature to transcend cultural divides, Hamilton has created a poignant, ennobling, and buoyant tale' Booklist Perfect for book groups - asks lots of questions about Western ideas of development as well as being heartwarming read

Media Reviews
'Hamilton vividly sketches the landscape of Africa... the novel's greatest strength is in the way it puts forward a balanced argument about the significance of the written word, capturing its power to delight and liberate at the same time as acknowledging its limitations in a world where shelter and food are not certainties.' NEW STATESMAN
Author Bio
Masha Hamilton worked as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press for five years in the Middle East, where she covered the intefadeh, the peace process and the partial Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. She traveled to Afghanistan in the spring of 2004 to interview women in prison, child brides and war widows and report on the country's reconstruction efforts.