4 out of 4 stars
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Baturi by Matthew Stephen is a semi-autobiographical novel about being a British man teaching in Nigeria. It follows a character named after the author, Matthew, as he combats the unique challenges of his position: limited resources, inability to engage with his students, and losing touch with people back home. Most notably, he struggles with balancing his relationship with a girlfriend in Britain with a burgeoning romance between him and Chantel, an attractive Canadian volunteer.
After going on vacation to another town with Chantel, though, he finds himself with a great deal of money that implicates him in a plot to overthrow the Nigerian government. This development separates the book starkly into two halves: one where Matthew is living a slow and relatively simple life as a teacher, and one where he is on the run from the police. The pacing left a bit to be desired, as the first half was extremely slow, but it was ultimately necessary to build up the second part of the book, though I can see some readers becoming impatient with it.
Overall, though, the book did an excellent job portraying the issues faced by a white man in Africa, especially for that long. The sense of cultural isolation Matthew felt was deep and poignant, and the reactions other characters had to him were realistic and interesting. The world he is in felt vivid and detailed, with a personal touch that made the reader feel almost like they were experiencing the same things as Matthew was. This immersion is the book's greatest strength.
My biggest gripe was with how the other characters were written. There's a constant focus on Chantel's beauty, and it was as if she was only there as a temptation for Matthew, and, later, as a prize to be won or lost. While many of the other characters are more developed, they're still somewhat flat. There's so much focus on Matthew's personal story that none of the relationships between his character and the others feel especially engaging, though this does play into the vast cultural divide present between him and the Nigerians.
At the end of the day, though, Baturi does what it sets out to do. It's a fascinating and insightful look into how white men are treated in parts of Africa, specifically Nigeria, and the second half of the book is riveting. I didn't feel that my personal issues with it were enough to warrant not giving it 4 out of 4 stars. It's likely too focused on an outsider to provide accurate information about African culture, but it's strong narratively, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the unique cultural conflicts it portrays.
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Baturi
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