Rating

4.5 stars (EXCELLENT)

Review

Kris Holloway spent two life-changing years in Mali, West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer.  Monique and the Mango Rains is her memoir of that time, of the people she met, and the country she grew to love. 

Holloway, twenty-two years old, fresh out of college and hailing from Ohio, was assigned to the village of Nampossela in southeastern Mali.  Her host, the person she would shadow for two years and with whom she would develop a remarkable friendship, was the village health care worker and midwife Monique Dembele. 

This book educated me about so many aspects of Mali - the culture, it's political climate, the economy - never once losing my attention or becoming tedious.  In fact, I was hooked from the first page.  I attribute this to the author's love of the country and its people.  Even though her focus in this book is Monique and the villagers, it is obvious that Holloway was an exceptional person in the ease with which she adapted to life in Nampossela.  She picked up the language quickly, had relatively few complaints about the lack of ammenities and physical comforts, and was in general open to the experience, embracing the beauty and simplicity of this extraordinary existence.

Above all else, Monique and the Mango Rains is a tribute to its title character.  Monique was regal and intelligent, wise beyond her 24 years, with an easy-going sense of humor.  She was compassionate and kind, dedicated to her work, despite its frustrations and the toll it took on her own life.  Overworked and underpaid, she worked at the dilapidated village clinic with her infant son strapped to her back.  The resources available to health care were scarce and educating the villagers often meant contradicting a patrilineal cultural tradition in which women were not free to control their own destiny where health and reproductive issues were concerned.  

Holloway's descriptions made Mali come alive.  She painted a richly hued picture of the village of Nampossela.  When she described the oily chunks of mudfish that accompanied one meal, I could see and smell them.  My skin crawled when a seven-inch long, jet black scorpion fell from an item of clothing she was about to put on one morning.   I felt emotionally invested in this story, drawn to keep reading but not wanting it to end.  I ached for her when her Peace Corps assignment came to an end and it was time to say good-bye to Monique and the villagers.  While Holloway recounted holding back tears on her last day in Nampossela, mine were flowing freely. 

I am so glad that Kris Holloway decided to write this memoir of her two years in Mali, and that she did it so masterfully.  It touched my heart, and changed the way I see the world ... and I can't stop thinking about Monique.

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Click HERE to find out more about Kris Holloway and what she is doing to improve health care in Mali.

Monique and the Mango Rains is a Literary Ventures Fund book.