I recently read two books that both were set (at least partially) in the Central African country, the Congo. This was a random reading coincidence but a good opportunity to recommend both books.

In Gabriel’s Moon, new historical fiction by William Boyd, the main character (Gabriel) who is primarily a travel writer lands an exclusive interview with Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But before the article is published, Lumumba is assassinated. Although the rest of this story isn’t set in The Congo, the country’s political situation features into the overall narrative as Gabriel becomes more entangled in the world of espionage. This (unlikely) spy novel meets historical fiction was refreshingly different than my usual reads.

About a month later I decided to read The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver. I hadn’t read any Kingsolver until Demon Copperhead which I loved; my coworker recommended both of these.

This newish classic (1998) is the story of a missionary family stationed in the Belgian Congo in 1959 as told in alternating points of view of the wife and the four daughters.

By the time Lumumba is elected, things have already gone very wrong for this family whose head, the evangelical preacher Nathan Price, refuses to consider the reality of any other cultural or religious practices.

When Leah (one of the daughters) tells her Congolese friend she saw Lumumba give his inaugural speech, he asks what she thought:

“It took me a moment’s pause to discover what I thought. Finally, I said. “I didn’t understand everything. But he made me want to believe in every word. Even the ones I wasn’t sure of.”

“You understood well enough then.”

Both of these books, thought-provoking yet still enjoyable reads, hint at U.S. involvement in Lumumba’s death, and both books gave me insight into world history I didn’t previously know about.