Everfair
A Novel
ISBN10: 1250212316
ISBN13: 9781250212313
Trade Paperback
384 Pages
$19.99
CA$26.99
In this re-imagining of Belgium's disastrous colonization of the Congo, African American missionaries join forces with British socialists to purchase land from the Congo Free State's "owner," King Leopold II. This land, which they name Everfair, is set aside as a safe haven for native populations of the Congo as well as settlers from around the world, including dream-eyed Europeans attempting to create a better society, formerly enslaved people returning from America, and Chinese railroad builders escaping hard labor. Using the combined knowledge of four continents, Everfair becomes a land of spying cats and gulls, nuclear dirigibles buoyed by barkcloth balloons, and silent pistols that shoot poison knives.
With this technology, Everfair will attempt to defeat the Belgian tyrant Leopold II. But even if they can defeat their great enemy, a looming world war and political infighting may threaten to destroy everything they have built.
Reviews
Praise for Everfair
“A beautifully written and thrillingly ambitious alternate history . . . It's a tribute to Shawl's powerful writing that her intricate, politically and racially charged imaginary world seems as believable—sometimes more believable—than the one we inhabit.”—The Washington Post
"Nisi Shawl’s Everfair is a book with gorgeous sweep, spanning years and continents, loves and hates, histories and fantasies. Set against the big canvas of King Leopold’s horrific rule in the Congo, her engaging, passionate characters struggle to make the right choices in a world that is almost ours, but not quite. Everfair is sometimes sad, often luminous, and always original. A wonderful achievement."—Karen Joy Fowler
Reviews from Goodreads
BOOK EXCERPTS
Read an Excerpt
Introduction
by Cadwell Turnbull
Everfair is a rich mosaic narrative about a revolutionary nation created in resistance to King Leopold II’s brutal colonization of the Congo Free State. How a nation of Africans, Europeans,...