Behold the Dreamers

‘We all do what we gotta do to become American, abi?’New York, 2007: a city of dreamers and strivers, where the newly-arrived and the long-established jostle alike for a place on the ladder of success. And Jende Jonga, who has come from Cameroon, has just set his foot on the first rung. Clark Edwards is a senior partner at Lehman Brothers bank. In need of a discrete and reliable chauffeur, he is too preoccupied to closely check the paperwork of his latest employee. Jende’s new job draws him, his wife Neni and their young son into the privileged orbit of the city’s financial elite.

And when Clark’s wife Cindy offers Neni work and takes her into her confidence, the couple begin to believe that the land of opportunity might finally be opening up for them. But there are troubling cracks in their employers’ facades, and when the deep fault lines running beneath the financial world are exposed, the Edwards’ secrets threaten to spill out into the Jonga’s lives.Faced with the loss of all they have worked for, each couple must decide how far they will go in pursuit of their dreams – and what they are prepared to sacrifice along the way.

About the Author

Imbolo Mbue is a native of Limbe, Cameroon. She holds a BS from Rutgers University and an MA from Columbia University. A resident of the United States for more than a decade, she lives in New York City. This is her first novel.

Review by Caroline Baum

The perfect companion to McInerney’s Bright Precious Days, this debut novel by Cameroon born Mbue flips the perspective on the lives of the rich and asks the pertinent question: what’s the cost of the American dream?

New York, 2007: Jende Jonga has just arrived from Cameroon, eager to make a place for himself and his young family in the world. His papers are not quite in order, but he’s hoping that will soon be sorted; he can’t believe his luck when he cracks a job driving Clark, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers and his frequently lunching wife Cindy.

He is mystified by much of what he overhears in the driver’s seat, as both Clark and Cindy conduct the unravelling drama of their lives on the backseat on their mobile phones. But of course, Jende’s fate is linked to theirs in ways he cannot imagine.

A poignant and tender modern-day fable about immigrant aspiration.