Black Mamba Boy

Jama and his mother left Somaliland after Jama's father deserted them, and they are now living as dependents with unfriendly relatives in Yemen. To stay out of everyone's hair, including his mercurial mother's, Jama spends his days roaming the markets with other semi-feral children. After his mother's death, Jama decides to search for the father he has never known. At the age of eleven, he travels first to his homeland, then on to Sudan through Italian-held Abyssinia. After a stint as an askaris (local soldier serving in a colonial army), Jama wanders further north searching for a better future in the British merchant marines.

Jama's 1000-mile journey is based on the the life of the author's father. The book opens in 1935 and ends in show more 1947, covering a very tumultuous period in African history. The Italians and the British are vying for territory and as World War II begins, Jama is caught up in causes he doesn't understand, including, at the end of the novel, the drama of the Jewish refugees on the Exodus. As with all fictional biographies, I wonder where the line is between fact and fiction, but if even the bones of the story are true, it's an incredible one. For a debut novel, it is very well done, and it was long-listed for the Orange Prize. show less

This is a case of "it's not you it's me". I cannot get my head around the idea of a fictional memoir. Feels like the author should either have written an account of her father's life , or written fiction. This, as a genre, makes no sense to me.
The story it tells is broad enough in scope to be interesting. Jama is a street child in Aden, but his mother is from British Somaliland. How she came to be there is never explained, but when she dies, he returns to his homeland, then travels North, arrives in Egypt and joins the British Navy before seeing the world. Along the way he witnesses the Italian actions in Africa and the way that they treat the natives. It is all perfectly interesting enough to stand on its own merits, I don't see why show more it needs to be made fiction. I spent too much time wondering how true each story that was told was. At times she tells of things that our main character cannot have known, a case of I want to tell this, where can a shoehorn it in. At others there was a massively high level of co-incidence. It feels like a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive life story. And it ends rather abruptly, just as Jama's horizons have expanded, so they seem diminished by the ending.
I feel this is a story worth telling, the format to tell it just doesn't work for me. show less

Jama is a young Somalian boy when his mother dies in the port city of Aden, Yemen, and so he decides he will undertake a trek to find his father, who he believes to be a “driver” somewhere in Sudan. Thus begins his travels across north Africa & on to England all during the most dangerous time the world has ever seen, WWII. He is smart and lucky (thanks to his being born under the lucky sign of the black mamba). But he also makes stupid decisions, which can be inordinately frustrating for the reader. Then you have to remember he is a homeless kid without an adult to love and teach him. To say he remains a mostly ethical, good person is surprising given all he experiences in his travels. There are a few scenes, one in particular, that show more is beyond gruesome. So trigger warning for violence against children.

The audiobook is free for Audible subscribers but I’m not sure I’d recommend it because Jama meets so many people and travels so extensively, it’s really hard to keep track. Often I just had to acknowledge I didn’t recognize names I should have, or didn’t have a clue where he was sometimes. I wish Audible would include chapter names. That would clarify a lot. The narrator was lovely, however, so no discredit to him. Recommended, if not the audiobook. show less

This is the story of a Somali boy. He lives with his mother in Aden, as his father has gone seeking work and adventure. It is a tough life , unwanted by the relatives they stay with, Jama seeks the company of street youths while his mother works. She dies while he is a young boy and a grief stricken Jama is sent back to his own village in Somaliland. He soon becomes restless and decides to seek his father. He sets off on a perilous journey through Eritrea and Sudan, becoming caught up in the Second World War, before journeying on to Egypt , Palestine and eventually Britain.
Although this is at times a harrowing read, there are many uplifting moments, especially the friends he makes along the way.
This book is insightful and goes someway show more to helping the reader understand the Somali people and their problems. show less

A beautiful and powerful novel about a boy's journey across northeastern Africa, to find first his father and then himself during the 30s and 40s, taking in Yemen, Djibouti, Sudan, Egypt, Palestine and more, and which deals pretty unflinchingly with the cruelty of the European colonization of Africa. Despite some weird inconsistencies in voice and some occasionally clumsy writing, the book is by turns graceful and brutal and definitely worth your time.

This debut novel by Mohamed, a British writer of Somali descent, is a fictionalized account of her father's harrowing childhood as an abandoned orphan in the Middle East and Africa, which was selected for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction longlist.

The boy was named Jama by his restless father Guure, who left his wife Ambaro and son behind in mid 1930s British Somaliland to seek work in Sudan. However, Ambaro called the young boy Goode, or Black Mamba, in honor of the huge black mamba snake that slithered over her pregnant belly without causing harm to her or the unborn Jama.

The pair moved to the Yemeni coastal town of Aden, to live with relatives, who looked down upon the raggedy pair. The young Jama spent more time away from the house, show more and ultimately made a way of his own, forming alliances with other street kids and neighborhood ne'er do wells. After his mother's early death, he was sent back to his native village in Somaliland, but he quickly grew bored and embarked on a quest to find his father in Sudan.

His travels take him through Eritrea, which was occupied by the bloodthirsty and ruthless Italian army, Sudan, Egypt and Palestine. Danger and death are constant companions, yet Jama displays an uncanny ability to beat the odds and escape relatively unscathed. The book ends as he obtains a passport from British Somaliland, which permits him to obtain work on a British naval ship that will take him to the UK.

Black Mamba Boy is a riveting look at a most unusual childhood, which is richly portrayed by the author. Although Jama's life is full of tribulations, he manages to enjoy his life fully, making this an uplifting and inspiring story that is highly recommended. show less

I found this novel hard to get into but I persevered and once I got a quarter of a way in I found i kept turning the pages and enjoying it. It was sad, but real and that is what kept me intrigued. I found the over use of descriptive words bothersome and I wish I had a vocabulary / glossary so that I could understand what some of the Somalian / African words meant. The story was set in 1930s Somalia spanning a decade of war and upheaval, all seen through the eyes of a small boy alone in the world. Aden,1935; a city vibrant, alive, and full of hidden dangers. And home to Jama, a ten year-old boy. But then his mother dies unexpectedly and he finds himself alone in the world. Jama is forced home to his native Somalia, the land of his show more nomadic ancestors. War is on the horizon and the fascist Italian forces who control parts of east Africa are preparing for battle. Yet Jama cannot rest until he discovers whether his father, who has been absent from his life since he was a baby, is alive somewhere. And so begins an epic journey which will take Jama north through Djibouti, war-torn Eritrea and Sudan, to Egypt. And from there, aboard a ship transporting Jewish refugees just released from German concentration camp, across the seas to Britain and freedom. This story of one boy's long walk to freedom is also the story of how the Second World War affected Africa and its people; a story of displacement and family. A lot goes on in this story and you find yourself really getting to know the characters of Jama, Shidane and Abdi. show less