In the Shadow of the Sacred Grove [Paperback]

Carol Spindel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 1989

The author brings to life a world of herders, potters, farmers and diviners--all the rituals and the daily life of an Ivory Coast community.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In late 1981, freelance writer Spindel joined her agricultural geographer husband on the northern Ivory Coast, where she spent a year among the 1600 residents of a Senufo village that, in order to preserve its privacy, she here dubs Kalikaha. Her intriguing memoir wittily and astutely records both her own adjustment to the village and her perceptions of its way of life. The Senufo are generally welcoming, although she apparently threatens a translator, hired by her husband, who expects a wife to pass her days cooking and to speak only when addressed. As Spindel acquires proficiency in Dyula, the native language, she observes local customs and draws touching comparisons with American behavior: "I wish that I belonged to a place the way her landlord belonged to Kalikaha." She finds metaphors in everyday events, such as women potters helping one another to balance their burdens--"No woman could raise to her own head the load she could carry for miles"--and sadly notes the lingering effects of Western colonization.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"[Spindel's] attention is tellingly focused on what too often fails to appear in narratives of rural Africa--the lives and works and fates of women." -- Barry Lopez

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1 edition (August 28, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679722149
• ISBN-13: 978-0679722144
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,250,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > History > Africa > Côte d'Ivoire

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Africa made beautiful, September 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Shadow of the Sacred Grove (Paperback)

Spindel's book humanizes and softens our often bleak view of Africa. The adventures of the American student of West African language and culture remind us that people are not so different as they seem. Furthermore, she reminds us that before European interference, there was gentility and natural wealth in African society.

Highly recommended for those readers who desire another perspective on the continent's people.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stayed with me for years, July 20, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (San Francisco, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Shadow of the Sacred Grove (Paperback)

This is an extraordinarily sensitive portrait of a West African village. The writer really made the effort to know and understand her environment, and it pays off in a warm and tender account of her experience that brings the people and the culture vividly to life. I read this book six years ago, in preparation for a trip to Africa, and the strong sense of place she evokes stays with me still.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the shadow of the sacred grove, July 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Shadow of the Sacred Grove (Paperback)

This book in incredible. I read the book while in the Ivory Coast and can account for it's authenticity. In fact, I have read it over three times as it brings back the culture and the people that are so dear to my heart. Through her incredible writing skills the author brings Africa to life and provides a more complete accurate picture of West Africa. Excellent book, a definite must read.