Many years before she published her award-winning debut novel, “Behold the Dreamers,” Imbolo Mbue was working on another story, which she set aside. We now have that book—named “one of the best of 2021” by “The New York Times”—a stirring, heartbreaking story about a small African village engaged in a struggle with the American oil company that is poisoning its land and its children. Nuanced and character-driven, “How Beautiful We Were” has moments of eruptive violence and scenes of stunning beauty. Mbue will talk about how the story haunted her, how she came back to it, and why writing novels is her life’s work.

This video was recorded on July 11, 2022 in Ketchum’s Forest Service Park as part of our Community Speaker Series in partnership with The Community Library.