SuitabookThe boy who spat in Sargrenti's eye
Manu Herbstein
- Reading
- Consider reading alongside your child and pausing after scenes of destruction to check what they think is happening. You can distinguish the historical events from the novel’s diary account.
- Themes
- Colonial military destruction: Kofi witnesses British forces bombard coastal settlements and destroy Kumase after looting the Asantehene’s palace. The events are central to the historical setting; their moral or political interpretation in the novel is not established.
- A young witness’s diary: Fifteen-year-old Kofi witnesses the events and records them in his diary. The diary gives the story a personal witness, but what Kofi makes of events is not established.
- Worth knowing
- The historical events include bombardment, towns being razed, looting and a city set on fire. These are substantial depictions of destruction; the level of detail in the novel is unclear.