- Category: Books » Biography & Autobiography » General
- Format: Paperback Learn more about the Paperback format using Tower WIKI.
- Number of Pages: 368
- ISBN: 0743266250
- WAPI (Tower ID): 113027850
- Release Date: July 21, 2009
- Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
- Tower.com Sales Rank: #54207 in Books (See Top 100 Books Bestsellers)
- #1376 in Biography & Autobiography (See Top 100 Biography & Autobiography Bestsellers)
- #359 in General (See Top 100 General Bestsellers)
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Product DescriptionRun a Quick Search on "The House at Sugar Beach" by Helene Cooper to Browse Related Products:Browse more products related to "The House at Sugar Beach"Browse more products related to "Helene Cooper"Review"Cooper's memoir is mesmerizing in its portrayal of a Liberia rarely witnessed, [and] its description of the psychological devastation... brought on by profound loss is equally captivating....[A] masterly memoir." Publisher's noteHelene Cooper is "Congo," a descendant of two Liberian dynasties -- traced back to the first ship of freemen that set sail from New York in 1820 to found Monrovia. Helene grew up at Sugar Beach, a twenty-two-room mansion by the sea. Her childhood was filled with servants, flashy cars, a villa in Spain, and a farmhouse up-country. It was also an African childhood, filled with knock foot games and hot pepper soup, heartmen and neegee. When Helene was eight, the Coopers took in a foster child -- a common custom among the Liberian elite. Eunice, a Bassa girl, suddenly became known as "Mrs. Cooper's daughter." For years the Cooper daughters -- Helene, her sister Marlene, and Eunice -- blissfully enjoyed the trappings of wealth and advantage. But Liberia was like an unwatched pot of water left boiling on the stove. And on April 12, 1980, a group of soldiers staged a coup d'etat, assassinating President William Tolbert and executing his cabinet. The Coopers and the entire Congo class were now the hunted, being imprisoned, shot, tortured, and raped. After a brutal daylight attack by a ragtag crew of soldiers, Helene, Marlene, and their mother fled Sugar Beach, and then Liberia, for America. They left Eunice behind. A world away, Helene tried to assimilate as an American teenager. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill she found her passion in journalism, eventually becoming a reporter for the "Wall Street Journal" and the "New York Times," She reported from every part of the globe -- except Africa -- as Liberia descended into war-torn, third-world hell. In 2003, a near-death experience in Iraq convinced Helene that Liberia -- and Eunice -- could wait no longer. At once adeeply personal memoir and an examination of a violent and stratified country, "The House at Sugar Beach" tells of tragedy, forgiveness, and transcendence with unflinching honesty and a survivor's gentle humor. And at its heart, it is a story of Helene Cooper's long voyage home. AnnotationBorn into Liberia's privileged upper class, Helene Cooper's family were the descendants of the freed American slaves who first turned Liberia into a country. Her life took a drastic change in 1980 when Liberia plunged into a long and bloody civil war. Her family's possessions were seized, her mother was gang-raped, and her adopted sister Eunice was left behind as Helene was sent to America where she lost all her social status to become just another African immigrant, teased or ignored in the American school system. Cooper struggled and thrived however, growing up to became a talented journalist, but she always disassociated herself from the horrors of her past. When her Humvee in Iraq was destroyed and she was nearly killed, Cooper suddenly felt the need to revisit Liberia. There she discovered that miraculously, through war and poverty, Eunice had survived. Cooper's gripping and powerful memoir shines a light on the terrible history of Liberia, and the long road to personal and emotional recovery. THE HOUSE AT SUGAR BEACH was selected by the New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of 2008, and it was also a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award in the Autobiography category. If You Enjoy "The House at Sugar Beach (Paperback)", May We Also Recommend:Customer Reviews for "The House at Sugar Beach (Paperback)" by Helene Cooper (Author)There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review! General Bestsellers
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