The Old Drift
Intertwined with the story of the characters is the drone of mosquitoes and the threat of malaria.
Trigger warnings for sexual violence and racism.
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell is a multi-family, intergenerational family drama set in [what is now] Zambia near Victoria Falls, colloquially known as "The Old Drift" in the colonial period. It follows a set of grandmothers (Sibilla, Agnes, and Matha), mothers (Sylvia, Isabella, and Thandiwe), and their children, (Joseph, Jacob, and Naila). Intertwined with the story of the characters through time (1939-2023), is the drone of mosquitoes and the threat of malaria.
“‘You can’t stop technological progress,’ said Joseph. ‘Progress?’ [Naila] said. ‘Progress is just the word we use to disguise power doing its thing.’”
This book has a lot of great insights about colonial power and its lasting legacy in Zambia. The three families we follow through this book are white, Black, and south Asian and eventually merge into one family by the end of the story. There are several layered and complicated relationships throughout this story that span across generations and ethnicities that feel very authentic.
I was prepared for a historical fiction book, but this story escaped the bounds of "history," and moved into the future. I was drawn more to the early parts of this book because I like historical fiction and study colonialism in southern Africa, but I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this book. it was incredibly cleverly written. I have recently been discovering more Afrofuturist stories and I am so happy to have added this one to my TBR.
The prologue, epilogue, and end of each chapter is written in a way that reminded me of a Greek chorus in a tragic play and it took me about halfway through the book to realize the chorus was from the perspective of mosquitoes. In addition, the mid-chapter breaks have little mosquitoes between blocks of text (unfortunately, this is really difficult to see on Kindle) where other books might have stars or ellipsis. I was delighted by this clever design and attention to detail!
The Old Drift is Serpell's latest and most widely known book, but she has at least four other books out and has contributed to several anthologies. I will absolutely be reading more of her work in the future.
