Tail of the blue bird

I loved this novel so everything I say may be considered as slightly skewed in its favour but I think if you have an open mind and enjoy reading about Africa’s past and present you will not go wrong with Nii Ayikwei Parkes’ debut novel.

It begins in a Ghanaian village with an old man, a hunter and in a language which is apt for the setting but which can be a little confusing. There are a lot of words that you may not recognise if you are not from that part of West Africa and the old man tends to speak in proverbs, which is confusing at best of times let alone when having to also contend with foreign words written in phonetics. As I said earlier if you keep an open mind, all becomes clearer. As the story progresses, we move to Accra and encounter a young professional man, a Ghanaian returnee, who having studied in the UK is back home facing up to his responsibilities as the eldest sibling in a family that made sacrifices to give him his western education. He and his friends who are all educated and hard working professionals lament their lack of opportunities and the prevalence of corruption in the Capital city. These issues and an unexpected, unsolved mystery which the young protagonist has to solve provide a background for the novel, a thread that runs through it. For me, the real story is about the relationship between the modern and the traditional, the old and the young and other contrasts found throughout the novel. We learn though that the world functions best when these differences complement each other. In the village, Kwadwo, the young man, having studied forensic pathology is able to treat a broken arm while the traditional doctor offers the patient pain relief in the form of a herbal concoction. And through the eyes of the young protagonist, we understand the ways of the old man, the hunter, better. His words make sense and we are able to reflect on the proverbs he uses to respond to questions about life and death and begin to understand that too.

The author’s depictions are so vivid, I felt as though I was transported to Ghana; I could smell the palm nut soup in the village, taste the palm wine and hear the coastline in Accra. There is something magical and yet pertinent about the novel. Aside from an admiration for Parkes’ writing style, it also left me with a new found respect for African culture and its relevance in the world today.
Tail of the Blue Bird