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Summary and Reviews of Travelers by Helon Habila

Travelers by Helon Habila

Travelers

A Novel

by Helon Habila
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (6):
  • Readers' Rating (28):
  • First Published:
  • Jun 18, 2019, 288 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Aug 2020, 304 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

A startlingly imaginative exploration of the African diaspora in Europe, by one of our most acclaimed international writers.

Award-winning author Helon Habila has been described as "a courageous tale teller with an uncompromising vision…a major talent" (Rawi Hage). His new novel Travelers is a life-changing encounter with those who have been uprooted by war or aspiration, fear or hope.

A Nigerian graduate student who has made his home in America knows what it means to strike out for new shores. When his wife proposes that he accompany her to Berlin, where she has been awarded a prestigious arts fellowship, he has his reservations: "I knew every departure is a death, every return a rebirth. Most changes happen unplanned, and they always leave a scar."

In Berlin, Habila's central character finds himself thrown into contact with a community of African immigrants and refugees whose lives previously seemed distant from his own, but to which he is increasingly drawn. The walls between his privileged, secure existence and the stories of these other Africans on the move soon crumble, and his sense of identity begins to dissolve as he finds that he can no longer separate himself from others' horrors, or from Africa.

A lean, expansive, heart-rending exploration of loss and of connection, Travelers inscribes unforgettable signposts―both unsettling and luminous―marking the universal journey in pursuit of love and home.

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Reviews

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Helon Habila is a writer of quiet power. His characters take you into their lives with the simple telling of their quest for a human connection, a place to make a living for themselves and their families (Claire M). It was an absolute honor to read this book and a double honor to review it. The author's style is so flawless and transparent that it disappears; you feel you're suddenly in the very scene that is unfolding (Elizabeth T)...continued

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(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).

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Beyond the Book



The Dehumanization of Refugees in Europe

Two migrants talking at the San Ferdinando camp before its destructionAccording to the UN Refugee Agency, over 40,000 refugees arrived in Europe in the first seven months of 2019, the vast majority from the war-torn nations of Afghanistan, Syria, Morocco and Iraq. Another 668 have died or gone missing on their journey. The total number of arrivals for 2018 was 141,472, with 2,277 dead or missing. While these numbers are alarmingly large, they are a fraction of the totals from 2015 when the crisis reached its peak and over one million refugees sought shelter in Europe, with 3,771 dead or missing (which is in itself a fraction of the total number of over 16 million people who have been displaced by post-9/11 conflicts). In addition to those from the Middle East, the Pew Research Center, reports nearly one ...

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Read-Alikes

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