The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood,   ISBN:9780743266253

Customer Rating: 

Cooper writes well and there is a strong connection to family members. Although I agree that the history is necessary for the reader to get a feel of the deep roots that both sides of the family had/has in Liberia, it did get to be a bit long in parts. All in all, like many memoirs that express the sad state of Africa, this will move you. I loved her language and different "Liberia" sayings that she shares. I enjoyed reading this book.

Customer Rating: 

This story starts out well...lots of vibrant images, and rich detail. Unfortunately, the middle and ending seem rushed. Once the family moves to the United States, the characters seem to lose their vibrancy. The ending seemed particularly aprupt, and left me wanting more detail. There were several characters that were developed in the beginning, that seemed to be completely forgotten about in the end. For instnace, the author's sister, and mother were both fully developed characters that were left out of the ending completely.

All in all, it was an entertaining read, but missed it's potential.

Customer Rating: 

I throughly enjoyed Sugar Beach! It brought back childhood memories of my family when I was growing up.

I also learned the history of Liberia that was not taught to us in school with very few Black History classes. It was heart wrenching to know how violently lives were lost and how poor the country was despite all the resources it seems to have; including it's proud people.

I shared it with my Sister who is now in the process of reading it. I felt like I knew the author Helene Cooper as if she were a sister too. Good reading!

Customer Rating: 

Heard a review of this book on NPR, know a man who escaped Liberia with just what he could carry & he is an acquaintance of Helen Cooper, so bought the CD on a whim. My husband & I listened to it on a long driving trip.
We were totally blown away by this story to the point that sometimes I found myself holding my breath. There were times when we stopped for a break & didn't even speak to each other, we were so lost in our own thoughts - trying to digest what we had just heard. So much of what goes on across the world is just a story in the news & we tend to dismiss it because it does not concern us but the history & story of this country & it's people just smacked me right in the face. Thank you Helen Cooper, it would be an honor to meet you someday.

Customer Rating: 

I found this book fascinating, once I'd gotten past the less-than-riveting first section with far too much detail about the author's ancestors. A little of that could have gone a long way and a good editor would have shortened it. What is absorbing is her picture of her home country of Liberia, and especially what women went through during the changes of regime. I also liked the sections on how she felt in the U.S. as an immigrant but she did seem to skip from frightened stranger to polished and successful writer very quickly.

Bottom line: The book is definitely a good read, teaches a great deal about the history of Liberia, gives insights into African customs and evokes admiration for the author and members of her family. I'd recommend it to others, with the caveat that it is worth slogging through some of the early parts to get into the meat of the story.