First Blood set in the Congo – Amelie Nothomb

Submitted: 29th November 2023

First Blood set in the Congo – Amelie Nothomb

A short novel in honour of her father who died during the pandemic. He was a young consul in 1964 and heads out to Stanleyville (Kisangani today). Quite a premise so I was keen to read this and find out more.

BookTrail the locations in First Blood

First Blood set in the Congo - Amelie Nothomb

Boarding Pass Information : First Blood

Destination : The Republic of the Congo

Author guide: Amelie Northomb

Genre: inspired by real life

Food and drink to accompany: nothing, it’s too nerve wracking

#Bookreview

@thebooktrailer

A novel to transport you to the Republic of the Congo

BookTrail the locations in First Blood

The location of the Congo intrigued me as did the fact that this was about the author’s father who worked out there. He was a consul in 1963 and was responsible for negotiation with rebels who kidnapped more than 1600 people in the country. He was one of those people so his actions and experiences spoke loud and clear.

What a story! This is a short and quick read and I felt there could have been so much more said and explored. It’s as if this is the pre-novel before the main event. No matter, this snippet of a read is powerful and compelling. Imagine writing about someone – your father no less – who did such a remarkable thing! Saving lives in a very hostile country.

I have to mention the start of the book. I mean, as soon as I started reading I realised I was standing in front of a firing squad. Now that is one way to open a book. Needless to say it grabbed my attention.

From this moment, he takes us back to his life and that compels us to leave him in front of this immediate danger. He takes us back and drops us in his life which, we soon find out, is difficult to say the least.

Reading this was like seeing a fight or danger scene, then it freezing, and the reader gets to look at every character in every angle with this father at the core of it all. The culture, the history, the emotional resonance of this short novel got to me. It was quite poetic in many ways.