Black Mamba Boy, Nadifa Mohamed
Black Mamba Boy, Nadifa Mohamed
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Black Mamba Boy

Author: Nadifa Mohamed

Narrator: Kevin Kenerly

Unabridged: 8 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/03/2010

Synopsis

Yemen, 1935. Jama is a half-feral child scavenging with his friends in the dusty streets of a great seaport. For Jama, life is a carnival, at least when he can fill his belly. When his mother dies young, she leaves him only an amulet stuffed with one hundred rupees. Jama decides to spend her life’s meager savings to search for his missing father, rumored to be a driver for the British in the north. So begins Jama’s extraordinary journey of more than a thousand miles to Egypt. He slings himself from one perilous city to another, fiercely enjoying life on the road and relying on his vast clan network to shelter him and point the way to his father, who always seems just out of reach. In his travels, Jama will witness scenes of great humanity and brutality; he will be caught up in the indifferent, grinding machine of war; he will crisscross the Red Sea in search of working papers and a ship.

About Nadifa Mohamed

Nadifa Mohamed was born in Hargeisa, Somalia, in 1981 and was educated in the United Kingdom, studying history and politics at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford. She lives in London and is currently working on her second novel.

About Kevin Kenerly

Kevin Kenerly, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, earned a BA at Olivet College. A longtime member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he has acted in more than twenty seasons, playing dozens of roles.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Moses on January 13, 2014

Nidifa Mohamed published her first book Black Mamba Boy in 2009. She took the material for it from her father’s account of his real life to craft this phenomenal book, which, unlike her flawless beauty, is made more achingly beautiful by its mesh of strength and unapologetic flaws. I met Nadifa at a......more

Goodreads review by Kavita on November 05, 2019

Based on the story of her father's life, Nadifa Mohamed has woven a tale of a young boy's journey through Africa and back. Born in Hargeisa in Somaliland, Jama quickly finds his ideal home life evaporating when his father disappears one day. His mother waits in vain and then decides to move to Yemen......more

Goodreads review by William on March 21, 2014

This book was really in my wheelhouse. I love historical fiction. I love African literature. And I love reading about places that I have absolutely no knowledge of. The action centers around the horn of Africa in the pre and post World War 2 years. The protagonist, Jama, a Somali, finds himself caug......more

Goodreads review by Bobbie on September 01, 2011

More biography than fiction and sadly not quite either. Not enough historical explanation to educate me, not enough characterisation to hook me, not enough narrative shape to engross and entertain me. Some good descriptive writing, and I do know more now than I did, but the occasional sentimental au......more

Goodreads review by David on March 03, 2010

Black Mamba Boy is based on the story of Nadifa Mohamed’s father, Jama, whom we first meet as a street child in Aden in 1935. When he falls out irrevocably with his friends, then loses his mother, Jama resolves to set out and find Guure, his own long-missing father, last heard of heading for Sudan –......more

Quotes

“An accomplished first novel.” Independent (London)

“Odysseus has nothing on Jama, the peripatetic hero of this vibrant debut novel by Somali writer, Nadifa Mohamed…Jama emerges from this tale the kind of hero you weep for. And in a subtle way, Mohammed reminds those of us who live in cities where emigrants wash ashore, that we probably see a man like him every day.” NPR

“[A] beautifully rendered debut…Jama is a charming protagonist whose peregrinations—assisted by clansmen, kind strangers, and ghostly visitations—are directed more by historical and biographical significance than by the demands of plot. Mohamed vividly recreates the complex atmosphere of the era, and her personal investment in the story gives it a passionate edge.” Publishers Weekly

“Black Mamba Boy is uplifting, inspiring, and heartwarming…Reader Kevin Kenerly gives an exceptional performance. His experience as a Shakespearian actor is evident in his modulated voice, and he has an excellent range of tones and accents. Kenerly’s interpretation of one of Jama’s adult friends—with a warm, booming African accent—is particularly enjoyable, and the thin, sinister voicing of violent Italian soldiers is equally chilling. Kenerly certainly adds to Nadifa Mohamed’s compelling novel.” SoundCommentary.com (starred review)

Awards

  • NPR Best Book Debut
  • Guardian First Book Award
  • Orange Prize
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