In The Company of Men by Veronique Tadjo
Drawing on real accounts of the 2014 Ebola outbreak that devastated West Africa, this poignant, timely fable reflects on both the strength and the fragility of humanity’s place in the world
Two boys venture from their village to hunt in a nearby forest. They shoot down bats and cook them over an open fire. Within a month, the boys are dead, their bodies ravaged by an unknown disease. Experts caution against touching the sick. But their warning comes too late: the virus spreads rapidly, and the boys’ father is barely able to send his eldest daughter away for a chance at survival.
In a series of moving snapshots, Véronique Tadjo illustrates the terrible extent of the Ebola epidemic. The story is told through the eyes of myriad characters: the doctor who tirelessly treats patients day after day in a sweltering tent, protected only by his plastic suit; the student who volunteers to work as a gravedigger while universities are closed, helping the teams overwhelmed by the sheer volume of bodies; the grandmother who agrees to take in an orphaned boy cast out of his village for fear of infection. And watching over them all is the ancient and wise baobab tree, mourning the dire state of the earth yet providing a sense of hope for the future.
First published in French in 2017, and now acutely relevant to our times in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, In the Company of Men explores critical questions about how we can combat fear and prejudice.
About the author.
VÉRONIQUE TADJO is an author, artist and academic. Born in Paris, she grew up in Abidjan (Ivory Coast). The award-winning author of several novels and children’s books, as well as two volumes of poetry, Véronique has lived in Lagos, Mexico City, Nairobi and Johannesburg, where she was Professor and head of French and Francophone Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. She now shares her time between London and Abidjan.
Review.
Life is so fragile, interconnected, beautiful and harsh. This is a book that reminds you of this. Nature and humans are part of a whole not separate. ‘In The Company Of Men’ is the tale of Africa during an outbreak of Ebola and is a revealing book full of empathy, love and hope during desperate times.
Two boys are playing in the jungle and kill some bats as some ‘bush tucker’ and fall sick with Ebola. It was a heartbreaking scene where the doctor tell the parents not to touch their children. Especially in ‘today’s world’ we appreciate how likely scenes like this have played out in the world over the last year. It's heartbreaking. But it is also tempered by the beauty in the book - the passage about the Baobab tree was stunning.
This is a beautiful book and I highly recommend it to anyone.
