"At least there were no soldiers out in their street tonight, waiting to catch latecomers. Social calls were squeezed into daylight hours now, the days of staying out till dawn long gone. Now you had to be home before the sun had even set across Kololo Hill."
★★★★⋆
Kololo Hill follows three members of a Ugandan Asian family - Jaya, the matriarch, Vijay, her son, and Asha, her daughter-in-law. Jaya emigrated from India to Uganda, following her husband Motichand's promises of a better, richer life. There she gives birth to two boys - Pran and Vijay. 20ish years later Pran is married to Asha, and both boys are working in their father's dukan. When Idi Amin forces the expulsion of the Ugandan Asians, the family are thrown into turmoil. The story follows their life in Uganda, the 90 days following Idi Amin's announcement, and the family trying to settle in the UK.
When I tell you I loved this book, I loved this book. It is so heartbreakingly beautiful. I could feel the love Shah has poured into the story and characters, and finding out Jaya and Asha are loosely based on her mother and grandmother gives this so much more impact. The story is passionate and full of history, and made me more aware of a time period I knew almost nothing about. You can tell Shah has done her research.
Shah's scene setting is excellent, describing a visual and social landscape that perfectly allows the rest of the story to progress. There are subtle hints to the time period throughout the book - mentions of music and fashion that could only set the scene in the 70s! All of this allows for the characters to drive the story without the reader wondering what is happening around them.
The characters are so beautifully flawed they feel real. I felt each one leap off the page and run around my head! I'm still thinking about them now, and honestly I cannot pick a favourite of the main three (although I adored Motichand).
It is so interesting to see the intersection and examination of race in a book like this. Racism is portrayed from all angles, from the racism the Ugandan Asians display towards the Black Ugandans, to the racism they themselves experience once in the UK. And the examination of this when compared to how the characters feel about home, and where home is for them, is so key to the novel.
Only one tiny little point for me - I would've loved more exploration of Vijay's disability. It was touched upon at relevant points in the story, which made it feel slightly like a box tick, and I would have loved Shah to explore this in more detail.
I cannot sing Shah's praises enough. If you get a chance to read this book, please do.
Thank you to Neema Shah, Picador, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Buy this book on Hive, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, or Waterstones, or your local!
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