鈥楴o Heaven for Good Boys鈥� tackles a family鈥檚 misplaced trust
A ragtag band of boys run the streets in Dakar, Senegal. Most of them are not orphans 鈥� in fact, many come from loving families. Ibrahimah is one of those boys, longing for the comfort of his seaside village and the warmth of his mother鈥檚 arms. But life, for Ibrahimah and the other boys in the city, is far harsher than it should be.
Keisha Bush鈥檚 debut novel 鈥淣o Heaven for Good Boys鈥� whisks readers away to Senegal, where Bush spent four years living and working in the capital, Dakar. The novel follows Ibrahimah, a 6-year-old boy sent to study the Quran under the tutelage of a marabout, or a Quranic teacher. What follows is a heartbreaking story of loss, love, and family as he fights to stay alive.
The story is informed by the real-life experiences of thousands of children, known as 迟补濒颈产茅蝉, who beg in the streets of Senegal. Families send their children to daaras, Quranic schools, thinking that their boys will receive an education and basic care under their marabouts. However, reports from the Human Rights Watch have unearthed troubling accounts of the lives of the聽迟补濒颈产茅蝉, who have to beg for money and food, and often don鈥檛 have access to clothing or healthcare. Many, according to the report, are physically abused and some also experience sexual abuse.
This is unfortunately the life waiting for the fictional Ibrahimah in 鈥淣o Heaven for Good Boys.鈥� Pressured by family and local religious customs, Ibrahimah鈥檚 mother and father, Idrissa and Maimouna, relinquish custody of their son to Marabout Ahmed, who quickly whisks the boy hours away from his village. There, Ibrahimah finds a small source of light in the camaraderie he builds with his older cousin, E虂tienne, who was also sent to Ahmed by his parents.聽
It鈥檚 impossible not to notice the dichotomy between the daily lives of Ibrahimah and E虂tienne, who have no shoes or clean water, and the privileged lives of the tourists and residents from whom the boys beg money. Bush also takes deft aim at religious hypocrisy, in which leaders hide their misdeeds under a cloak of piety, while the families鈥� desires to follow the tenets of their faith are manipulated to create cover for someone like Ahmed to continue his predations.聽聽聽聽
The most compelling character of the novel isn鈥檛 Ibrahimah 鈥� it鈥檚 his mother, Maimouna. While Ibrahimah鈥檚 story is most certainly at the center of the novel, it鈥檚 his mother鈥檚 determination to break with religious convention that pushes 鈥淣o Heaven for Good Boys鈥� forward. Haunted by her own childhood spent enslaved in her uncle鈥檚 home, Maimouna fights to reclaim her son from Marabout Ahmed, even though it could mean losing her family and home.
Bush is an adept storyteller; she spins out the colorful world of Dakar, and captures the sights and sounds of Ibrahimah鈥檚 home village, Saloulou, as well as the streets of the more industrialized Ouakam. You can nearly smell the ocean and hear the sizzle of meat over an open flame. But unfortunately, pleasant sights and smells aren鈥檛 the only things that are visceral in 鈥淣o Heaven for Good Boys.鈥澛�
While Bush is certainly a talented writer, there are certain parts of 鈥淣o Heaven for Good Boys鈥� that don鈥檛 quite fit together. The chapters 鈥� which switch between the points of view of Ibrahimah, E虂tienne, Maimouna, and even Ahmed 鈥� sometimes become disjointed. Bush does an excellent job of fleshing out Maimouna鈥檚 character, but Ibrahimah, despite being the focal point of the book, still reads as somewhat flat. Furthermore, there are many random American cultural references; though Bush justifies them with the plot, they still feel out of place in a story set half a world away from the United States. In the end, they act more as indicators of Bush鈥檚 American origins than as necessary additions to the story.
鈥淣o Heaven for Good Boys鈥� is certainly not lighthearted. But despite the physical and emotional abuse in the novel, there is an immense sense of beauty and love in it as well. Bush鈥檚 writing and compelling storytelling will envelope you, until you realize you鈥檝e spent hours lost in the streets of Dakar with Ibrahimah and E虂tienne. And by the end of it, you鈥檒l find yourself wanting to do something, about Marabout Ahmed and others like him. Which is, undoubtedly, Bush鈥檚 goal.
