'The House at Sugar Beach' by Helene Cooper - Book Review

The House at Sugar Beach is an astonishing and moving memoir about growing up in Liberia during a violent civil war. Helene Cooper is the daughter of one of Liberia's elite families, but after a coup threw her people out of power she moved to the United States, eventually becoming a journalist. In The House at Sugar Beach, Cooper delivers personal memoir, historical perspective, and journalistic reporting in one book that you won't be able to put down.

Helene Cooper grew up in a privileged family in Liberia in the 1970s, when the Congos, descendants of the original founders of the country, held power over the majority population of "country people." Though Cooper and much of her family left Liberia after a violent coup overthrew the Congo elite, her affection and loyalty to her native country are eloquently presented in The House at Sugar Beach.

Cooper's book is impeccably written, and leaves readers feeling that they've experienced Liberia's beaches and lagoons, that they've tasted cassava leaf and palm oil. The narrative varies from emotional and tactile passages to a more dispassionate recounting of some shocking events, revealing Cooper's journalistic credentials.

The historical sections on the founding of Liberia by free black men from America in the early 19th-century are fascinating and informative. The same is true of Cooper's reporting on current Liberia and its civil war struggles that she witnessed firsthand. The House at Sugar Beach is far more than just one woman's personal story. It's the story of a country -- one that has long been tied to the United States. It is a story that holds significance for Liberians and Americans alike.