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Review Excerpts
USA Today – April 12, 2007
“The Camel Bookmobile is a novel, but its inspiration is an African library
program that delivers books on the backs of camels to impoverished nomadic
tribes in Kenya. Bookmobile is also the story of an American woman who finds
new meaning in her own life while helping others…
Masha Hamilton's portrayal of nomadic culture is lovingly and colorfully
told. It's a painterly glimpse into a world that few Westerners will ever
see.” – Carol Memmott
Entertainment Weekly – April 6, 2007
“Friends of Fiona Sweeney, an idealistic New York librarian, think Fi’s new
project – a mobile library delivering books to remote parts of Kenya- is
slightly batty. So do many Kenyans. But just as Fi begins to make progress
in the tiny settlement of Mididima, where she meets a bright girl hungry for
guidance, a scandal involving missing books exposes powerful rifts within
the village. The Kenyans, whom Hamilton imagines with greater skill and
subtlety as the crises worsens, emerge as the story’s most captivating
characters.” – Hannah Tucker
Bookpage – April 2007
“Masha Hamilton’s compelling third novel, The Camel Bookmobile… vibrates
with the life and landscape of Africa, and Hamilton shines when presenting
the foreign, and often brutal, traditions of Mididima. She neither condones
nor condemns, but profiles daily existence with clear, sparkling prose and a
well-executed plot peopled with characters readers can’t help but care about
deeply. The author’s background as a journalist and world-traveler is
evident, and her experience combined with her impeccable research into the
real-life Kenyan Camel Mobile Library program makes for an enlightening new
novel.” – Kristy Kiernan
Library Journal (Starred Review) – March 1, 2007
“This third novel from international journalist Hamilton presents a rare
and balanced perspective on issues surrounding cultural intrusion and the
very meaning and necessity of literacy, using rich and evocative prose that
skillfully exposes the stark realities of poverty and charity in today's
Africa. Highly recommended for any fiction collection.” – Jenn B. Stidham
Publishers Weekly – January 29, 2007
“Hamilton’s captivating third novel follows Fiona Sweeney, a 36-
year-old librarian, from New York to Garissa, Kenya, on her sincere but
naïve quest to make a difference in the world. Hamilton weaves memorable
characters and elemental emotions in artful prose with the lofty theme of
Western imposed “education” versus a village’s perceived perils of exposure
to the developed world.”
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