![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The families first encounter each other in “The Falls,” narrated. Unfolding over 200 years, but set mainly in the twentieth century, one family begins in Italy, another in England and the third in Zambia. This link is also illustrated by the three families’ existence and their connection to each other. Namwali Serpell’s ground-shaking debut novel is an epic story of three generations of three Zambian families one black, one brown and one white. ![]() The fall of the dam results in the destruction of Zambia and the beginning of Lusaka as a new socialist city-state, suggesting that until Kariba Dam falls, contemporary Zambia is and will continue to be inextricably linked to its colonial history. It is a generational tale that is as much about what makes a nation as what makes a family. Set in Rhodesia/Zambia from 1903 to 2023, The Old Drift starts off as a historical fiction and ends as a futuristic parable. The dam continues to exist through the novel and is only destroyed accidentally by the children-turned-revolutionaries. The Old Drift is a prodigious undertaking both in scope and time span. The novel begins with the first instance of colonization in Zambia, which is emblematized by the construction of the Kariba Dam at the end of “Sibilla.” The dam is a manifestation of European colonial power over both the natural landscape and the indigenous Tonga people who are displaced by the dam. Colonialism is a constant through Zambia’s history in The Old Drift. Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell, read by Adjoa Andoh, Richard E. ![]()
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