Washington, DC — A new novel by Ethiopian author Dinaw Mengestu tells the story of one Ethiopian refugee's struggle for self-definition and motivation in a world of competing demands and expectations.
The novel tells the story of Sepha Stephanos, who fled to the U.S. during the civil war in Ethiopia. Stephanos has settled in the Washington, DC area and owns one of the numerous corner stores operated by Ethiopians that dot the city. Having distanced himself from the Ethiopian community, Stephanos' only friends are a Kenyan engineer and a Congolese waiter, each of whom represent different aspects of the African immigrant experience in America. The relationship between the three is symbolic of the friendships formed when immigrants from the same region help each other to keep alive a memory of home while in a foreign country. Stephanos' life changes, however, when Judith and Naomi, a white woman and her bi-racial daughter, move into his neighborhood. The new neighbors serve as the novel's catalyst for a series of events that literally turn Stephanos' world upside down.
Mengestu shows the reader the circumstances behind Stephanos' flight from Ethiopia as well as his early life in the U.S. The jumps in time can be confusing, but events in Stephanos' childhood in Ethiopia give the story its context, especially for a reader unfamiliar with Ethiopia's history. Stephanos' memories of Ethiopia are full of both fond memories of his family and his childhood, as well as memories of the fear and violence that forced him to flee while he was still a teenager.
The novel's main story takes place in the present, after Stephanos has lived in Washington, DC for seventeen years. Stephanos' life is realistically portrayed, and those who know Ethiopian-owned grocery stores in the area will recognize Mengestu’s descriptions: most stores are in the poorer African American sections of the city, which often have high crime rates. The food often consists of the basics of bread and milk, beer and cigarettes, as well as junk foods such as soda and candy. As Mengestu paints this picture of Stephanos' world, he succeeds in personalizing the dozens of nameless Ethiopian store clerks in Washington, DC.
Stephanos lives across the street from his store and his environment plays a huge role in shaping who he is. His interactions with the neighborhood play an important role in the book and are one of the more interesting dynamics of the story – it is as though Mengestu is telling a story, and the relationship between Stephanos and his neighbors is music playing in the background.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The arrival of Judith and Naomi (whose father is Mauritanian) reflects changes that are occurring all over the city, changes that spark a series of racial incidents in Stephanos' neighborhood. While these changes will ultimately impact Stephanos as well, his relationship with Judith and Naomi transforms his life and reminds him about the value of family.
In sum, Mengestu's portrayal of Sepha Stephanos mixes history with fiction. One would think that Stephanos' life is not much different from that of many Ethiopians who have fled their country. Mengestu also mixes in current-day racial and class tensions in Washington, DC., and serves them to the reader from an Ethiopian immigrant perspective. There are, in fact, similarities between the situation in his neighborhood and that he left behind in Ethiopia.
Dinaw Mengestu's own story clearly impacted the book. He was born in Addis Ababa in 1978 and immigrated to the United States with his mother and sister when he was two years old, to reunite with his father who had fled Ethiopia during the Red Terror.
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
By Dinaw Mengestu
$22.95/240 pages/March 2007/Riverhead Books
The book can be purchased at Penguin Group
