Petina Gappah’s novel, Out of Darkness, Shining Light, begins oddly with the death of David Livingstone, the great explorer missionary. The novel, that reads like nonfiction, tells the story of his African companions, sixty-nine women, men, and children, traveling more than 1,000 miles over a course of nine months. This extraordinary commitment takes Livingstone’s body to the sea and back to England for burial.

The narrative begins with the voice of Halima, his cook, “This is how we carried out of Africa the poor broken body of Bwana Daudi, the Doctor, David Livingstone, so that he could be borne across the sea and buried in his own land.” Halima recounts the beginnings as the group debates how to remove his heart for burial in Africa and dry his body to make travel with it less complicated. Her simple folk wisdom permeates her portrayal of the relationships and competitiveness among the group.

Jacob Wainwright, a self-righteous freed slave, picks up the narrative for the trip. Full of his own importance and free to excuse what the reader will see as flaws in his character, he remains committed to leading the group to get Dr. Livingstone’s maps, papers, and body back to England. Along the way, both narrators reveal Livingstone’s two obsessions, the search for the beginning of the Nile River and the abhorrence he feels for slavery. Each of them gives a conclusion for their own journey when the mission is accomplished.

Trading between the two voices, Petina’s writing shifts into each personality, yet remains lyrical. Based on much research to be found in the bibliography, the book reads like carefully woven nonfiction and leaves the reader feeling every mile of the journey and every emotional turn of events. It is not a light read but a good one.

DNF
10%
Zero stars

I just cannot. I tried, I really did [I rarely give up on a book before 100 pages], and I just cannot. There are too many characters, there is too much jumping around, there is just too much I am not understanding. I am completely bored. I just cannot finish. And I a very, very, disappointed. This was one book I was truly looking forward to reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Out of Darkness, Shining Light tells the story of the return of Dr. Livingstone's body to England. I didn't know a lot about Dr. David Livingstone before this novel, but I can tell that the author did a ton of research for this book. The group of loyal servants mummified his body after his death, and march his body over 1,000 miles to return it to his homeland. This is not a fast paced book, it is completely immersive in its task, which is a journey story. A journey story that discusses what it's like to walk and carry a body over 1,000 miles. Also, they didn't only bring his body back, but his journals. Journals, which helped to make David Livingstone still known today. It was also interesting to see through the eyes of Halima and Jacob as they are two very different characters. They were well written and compelling.

I would recommend this for people interested in Livingstone, anthropology, and history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for providing an e-ARC in exchange for a free review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Beautifully researched and beautifully written. It really gives you a sense of time and place. The book moves along slowly so I took my time with it.

What an amazing story! Out of Darkness, Shining Light is the story of how David Livingstone’s body was carried across the African continent by those who has accompanied him on his journey while alive. Told through the words of Halima, his cook, and Jacob Wainwright, a freed slave, with extracts from the doctor’s own journals framing each chapter, the novel depicts a heroic adventure that has never been told in such a manner before.

Petina Gappah writes beautifully, and created two very distinct voices in the novel. This in turn provides the reader with a well-rounded overview of the journey, a more personal account from Halima’s side, a drier, more technical account from Jacob Wainwright’s. The novel is a story of loyalty and love, but also a real insight into the intricacies of the African slave trade, the roles of countries such as the UK and the US, and the legacies of colonialism. Yes, it is historical fiction, but it is based on years and years of research and true stories, and it is incredibly important to read these types of narratives.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy, and to Petina Gappah for the beautiful novel. A must read.

Truth is often stranger than fiction, for who would imagine that the body of Doctor David Livingstone would be carried 1000 miles across Africa, under threat of dangers including kidnapping into slavery, so he could be shipped back to England and rest in his native land? It seems the stuff of legend. But it happened in 1873. Petina Gappah spent ten years researching this journey, then imagining the forgotten people whose dedication to the Doctor spurred their journey.

I had hoped for a great adventure story and found a journey that vividly recreates late 19th c Africa with its clash of cultures, religions, and power. It is filled with unforgettable characters, culminates in an explosive late revelation, and brings to light the impact of colonization.

The Doctor's missionary zeal abated while his anti-slavery zeal and respect for the Africans grew. He became obsessed with discovering the source of the Nile, believing its discovery would bring him the status and power to advance his ideals. When Stanley found the missing Livingstone he was already ill but would not return to civilization. The mixed group he had gathered, Africans, Muslims, manumitted slaves, and mission-trained Christian blacks, were left with the responsibility for his remains. They buried his heart and organs, dried his body, and proceeded to walk 279 days to Zanzibar.

Gappah tells the story in two voices. The appealing Halima was documented as Livingstone's cook, bought from slavery and freed by him. Halina's mother was a concubine in the house of a servant of the Sultan. Halima was a bondswoman passed from man to man. She dreams of the house Livingstone promised her. Then there is Jacob Wainwright, bought from slavery and sent to the mission school, a devote Christian who quotes The Pilgrim's Progress. Jacob's tale is stilted in language and filled with religious concerns, he is dislikeable and arrogant. He struggles with his passions and questions of faith. And yet, this faithful, educated, ambitious man's hopes are dashed because of his color and ethnicity.

The journey is rife with conflict and even death as the men vie for power and control and importance--and women. They face enemies and famine. They see hopeless villages devoid of their youth by the slavers. And everywhere, dry bones tied to trees, kidnapped Africans left by the slavers to die. Instead of welcome and assistance, the Europeans confiscate essentials.

"...this was no longer just the last journey of the Doctor, but our journey too. I was no longer just about the Doctor, about the wrongs and rights of bearing him home, or burying him here or buying him there, but about all that we had endured. It was about our fallen comrades." ~from Out of Darkness, Shining Light by Petina Gappah
How did this one man, this Doctor Livingstone, manage to inspire such loyalty? He was beloved because of his acceptance and respect for those he met, his understanding of human nature, his commitment to ending slavery--liberal Christian values out-of-sync with his time.

"But out of that great and troubling darkness came shining light. Our sacrifice burnished the glory of his life." ~from Out of Darkness, Shining Light by Petina Gappah

I was given access to a free egalley by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Thanks to Scribner and Netgalley for sharing an advance copy of this novel. This was an okay read, but I didn’t find it as engaging as I thought I would. As other reviewers have stated, it is not a fast paced book. I felt reading it at times was as plodding as the trek described in the book. In terms of historical fiction, the author has done a great job researching and giving you the feeling of being there. As for the characters, I found to be too close to caricatures. And the tale itself, while interesting as it went, turned out to be rather depressing. So not a winner for me.

2.5 stars, rounded down
Another book where I’m in the minority. This is the story of David Livingstone, both his life and death while searching for the origin of the Nile. Told to us by Halima, his “sharp tongued” cook, and Jacob Wainwright, a freed slave turned Christian convert, we get two vividly contrasting stories. But both stories capture not only the unique relationship between Bwana Daudi and the blacks that were on his expedition, but also the relationship between the English and the Africans. I especially appreciated Halima trying to understand the Christian religion, as Livingstone tried to convert various people. Jacob, on the other hand, comes across as the typical religious zealot finding fault with everyone.

This is not a fast moving story. In fact, I found it slow as molasses. Described as being about the trip to take his body back to the coast so it can be returned to England, half the book is gone before the trip even begins.

Gappah does an admirable job of giving us a great sense of time and place. Her research shines through. But it was just too dense and slow for my taste.

My thanks to netgalley and Scribner for an advance copy of this book.

The setting:

"...story of the loyal men and women who carried explorer and missionary [Bwana Daudi, the Doctor, David] Dr. Livingstone's body, his papers and maps, fifteen hundred miles across the continent of Africa, so his remains could be returned home to England and his work preserved there. Narrated by Halima, the doctor's sharp-tongued cook, and Jacob Wainwright, a rigidly pious freed slave..."

A tough read because at least at the beginning, the introduction of SO MANY CHARACTERS and SO MUCH FOREIGN TERMINOLOGY is offputting [there is a 6-page glossary at the end but it is a downfall of an ebook that one cannot flip to the back readily]. So. It took me quite a while to get into the rhythm of the book and not mix up all the characters. But eventually I did though it was a process.

The journey through the various tribal territorries that met with many challenges made for interesting reading. I most enjoyed Halima [particularly at the end when she finally was able to enjoy her door], but I found Jacob Wainwright the most intriguing "character"--and that terminology is intended. I thought that for all his intelligence, he often was clueless.

For me, this was a slow read. Often dark. And the only instance with humor was a description of a hairwash--the villagers thought Livingstone's "...brains came out when he washed his hair,, then went back in again... it was only the soap he used that created white suds that looked like they had come from within him."

Chock full of details. No wonder this book was 20 years in the making. Gappah says that she conducted more than 10 years of historical research.

Recommend if you are willing to persevere. Hint: Pay attention to the italics/paragraph at the beginning of each chapter.

Petina Gappah’s novel, Out of Darkness, Shining Light, is based on the true story of David Livingstone‘s last (posthumous) journey. When Livingstone died in Ujiji (in what is now western Tanzania) in 1873, the members of his expedition buried his heart there before preserving the rest of his body and carrying him to Zanzibar so that it can be shipped back to the United Kingdom. Gappah’s narrators are pulled from the pages of Livingstone’s journal and from the journal written by a European-educated African man who joined Livingstone shortly before the explorer’s death. Halima, Livingstone’s cook, and Jacob Wainwright could not be more different—making for a tale that is often as humorous as it is harrowing.

Halima narrates the first third and part of the last section of Out of Darkness, Shining Light. Halima was born into slavery in Zanzibar, passed from one master to another, before she was purchased by Livingstone as a cook and “traveling woman” for one of his male employees. Through Halima’s story, we see the great man in more humble circumstances and at his less glorious moments. When Livingstone dies, her goal is to make sure she gets what she was promised: her freedom and a house of her own, at long last. She has a delightfully wicked sense of humor that I relished. I enjoyed her voice so much that I wished she had a larger part in this book.

Jacob Wainwright is not pragmatic. His goals are impossible (converting the entire continent). Most of all, he doesn’t see things as clearly as Halima. The only exception—and one of the more interesting parts of his narrative, to me—are his views on Livingstone. To white people, Livingstone is a great hero. No one looks too closely at his day-to-day actions. Wainwright is dismayed by Livingstone’s participation in the slave trade and his practice of having women accompany the expedition to keep the men “happy.” Wainwright is more upset, however, by Livingstone’s almost complete failure to evangelize. Wainwright’s deepest wishes to be a missionary unfortunately blind him to a lot of bad behavior.

Halima’s perspective shows us how Africans and African Arabs and Europeans have adapted to each other’s presence, while not glossing over the horrors of slavery and racism. Wainwright’s perspective reads as very European; I would diagnose him with an inferiority complex. Instead of hanging on to his own heritage, Wainwright tried to remake himself and remake every other African he encounters. In her author’s note, Gappah references The Scramble for Africa, a non-fiction book by Thomas Pakenham, that recounts the history of rapid colonialization at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth. In Halima and Wainwright, I saw some of the same struggle for hearts, minds, and bodies.

While I wish there had been more Halima and less Wainwright in this book, I was fascinated by the interplay of their perspectives. I was also hooked by all the historical detail Gappah put into this novel—the names of peoples and places that don’t exist anymore, a novel that gives voice to Africans without a white person taking over. Out of Darkness, Shining Light is an amazing journey.

Written in a pair of completely dissimilar voices, Out of Darkness, Shining Light, recounts the journey taken across Africa to bring the body of David Livingstone to the coast whence it could be returned to England. The journey, decided upon by the Africans traveling with Livingstone at the time of his death, is historical fact. The novel is both an attempt to make vivid the journey as it happened and an exploration of alternate ways that journey might have been experienced by those undertaking it.

Both narrators, a female cook, Halima, and an aspiring minister, Jacob Wainwright, who was rescued from the slave trade an educated at a school for former slaves in India are garrulous. Halima speaks colloquially, loading her tale with bits of gossip and digressions. Wainwright casts the entire journey as his own Pilgrim's Progress, and consciously and carefully uses his own very formal version of the English language to narrative the journey. Both voices require some getting used to, but their very different pacing and perspectives pulls readers in.

Out of Darkness, Shining Light examines both the motivation of those who explore and "discover"—almost invariably in land inhabited by and well-know to indigenous peoples—and the way we each work to piece our own lives into coherent, purposeful narrative. It offers a thought-provoking read that will remain with readers long after the book is finished.

"Out of Darkness, Shining Light" tells the story of how dozens of loyal men and women "carried out of Africa the poor broken body of Bwana Daudi, the Doctor, David Livingstone, so that he could be borne across the sea and buried in his own land." The novel describes exploration, adventure and love as the caravan traveled 1500 miles. It also touches on racism, cultural differences and family dynamics.
I appreciate author Petina Gappah's hard work and research. Unfortunately, I was expecting an engaging story. Instead, this novel includes dozens of characters who are hard to keep straight. The author also writes in more of a journal entry style rather than a chronological novel, and I felt like I was reading research notes rather than a true novel.
This book might be useful for researchers or others who are interested in Dr. Livingstone, African culture, anthropology, or race relations. It's not a book casual readers will appreciate, in my opinion.

A mixed reaction to this one. Yes, to hear of history’s big events through the voices of bystanders is always welcome.and doubly so when they are black characters in colonial Africa. The voice of a female cook rang the most persuasive and interesting. When it came to Jacob, a convert to Christianity, a dupe and a substitute for the narrator of The Pilgrim’s Progress I was less compelled or amused. Having an Iago-Esque villain also struck me as a weakness.
Most memorable of all of all was the tragic portrait of slavery’s effect on the villages. And the glimpses of suffering and misery threaded through the text. This aspect was powerful and indelible.

I will admit that I didn't know that much of Dr David Livingston so I was a little excited about learning more about him. Thanks to the wording of this book it felt like I was in the story. This is a fantastic read and a story I will be reading more than once.

Sorry. I got this book thinking it was a novel set in Africa. Unfortunately this system forces one to list a star rating even if the book wasn't read.

Scottish explorer and medical missionary, David Livingstone, relentlessly searched for the source of the Nile, the world's longest river. In the final two years of his life, he still had "Nile madness". In the opinion of Livingstone's acerbic cook Halima, the Nile had been there since time began. The river would continue to flow whether the source was found or not. Halima's advice, "...go home to your children, find a wife 'to warm your bed'." Livingstone refused to return to England despite becoming ill and frail. He died in 1873 in what is present day Zambia. How is Livingstone to be interred?

"He will not rest easy...those who are buried away from home walk abroad...they know no rest...". "He must be buried in the way of his faith...He must...be buried on ground that is consecrated...we cannot bury him here." Halima's suggestion: "We will smoke him...dry him in the sun...He would be light enough to carry then...we bury his heart here and carry his bones to his own land." In the handwritten diaries of Jacob Wainwright, a former slave, Wainwright documents the burial of Livingstone's heart and innards at the base of a Myula tree. Sixty-nine men, women and children decide that Livingstone's body, encased in a cylinder of bark, covered in sailcloth and weather-proofed with tar, must be carried on poles by a rotation of two men, along with his writings and maps. They embark, on foot, taking a perilous journey of over 1,000 miles, from Zambia to Zanzibar, to ultimately repatriate his remains.

The journey of Livingstone's body to its final resting place is told by two principals, Halima, his cook and Jacob Wainwright, as his documentarian. "Out of Darkness, Shining Light" by Petina Gappah brings to light many issues existing in 19th Century Africa. Halima says,"I know but little about the world...but there is nothing you can tell me about how slaves are passed on and how they are freed." Jacob Wainwright, a freed slave, wants to became an ordained priest and "convert the masses" to Christianity. What will be the ripple effect of Livingstone's discoveries if his writings and maps reach England? Author Gappah has thoroughly researched and presented a historical fiction masterpiece I highly recommend.

Thank you Scribner and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Out of Darkness, Shining Light".

3.5 stars rounded down to 3. Historical fictions are very hit or miss for me and this one slightly missed the mark. Although I felt it was very well researched and written, it was a laborious read. I enjoy books that suck me in but this took me a lot of time to get through. It was a moving story but not for everyone.

A moving book of historical fiction.An amazing journey a story of love and loyalty past a persons final days on earth.Take this journey its such a wonderful read.#netgalley #scribners

Out of Darkness, Shining Light describes the story of David Livingston and the themes of strength, determination, love, loyalty and courage. The characters were well developed and it had a very interesting plot. A fascinating story, well written and I appreciated the research that went into this book. I would be interested in reading more of this author. My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

An interesting story of historical fiction. Well-researched and very well-written; an incredible 1000 mi journey. The characters were well-formed and the dialog solid. Recommended for fans of historical fiction.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!